William Barksdale

American politician and Confederate Army general (1821-1863)

For the member of the Virginia Senate, see William P. Barksdale. For the Confederate colonel, see William Barksdale Tabb.

William Barksdale

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1855 – January 21, 1861
Preceded by| Otho R. Singleton
Succeeded by| Henry Barry
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's at-large district
In office
March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by| no at-large seats
Succeeded by| 3rd Congressional District established
Personal details
Born| (1821-08-21)August 21, 1821
Smyrna, Tennessee
Died| July 3, 1863(1863-07-03) (aged 41)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Resting place| Greenwood Cemetery
Jackson, Mississippi
Political party| Democratic
Profession| Newspaper editor, soldier
Military service
Allegiance|  United States of America
Confederate States of America
Branch/service|  United States Army
Confederate States Army
Years of service| 1847–1848 (USA)
1861–1863 (CSA)
Rank|  Captain (USA)
Brigadier General (CSA)
Unit| 2nd Mississippi Infantry (USA)
Commands| 13th Mississippi Infantry (CSA)
Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade
Battles/wars| Mexican–American War
American Civil War

* First Battle of Bull Run
* Battle of Ball's Bluff
* Peninsula Campaign
* Seven Days Battles
* Battle of Antietam
* Battle of Fredericksburg
* Battle of Chancellorsville
* Battle of Gettysburg †

William Barksdale (August 21, 1821 – July 3, 1863) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, U.S. Representative, and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1853 to 1861.

A staunch secessionist, he was mortally wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg while he led his brigade's attack on U.S. Army forces near Cemetery Ridge.

## Early life

[edit]

William Barksdale was born in Smyrna, Tennessee, the son of William Barksdale and Nancy Hervey Lester Barksdale. Barksdale was the older brother of Ethelbert Barksdale, who would serve in both the antebellum U.S. Congress and then join the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War. The Barksdales were of English ancestry and came to America during the 1600s.[1]

Barksdale graduated from the University of Nashville and practiced law in Mississippi from the age of 21, but gave up his practice to become the editor of the Columbus [Mississippi] Democrat, a pro-slavery newspaper.[2]

Barksdale enlisted in the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment and served in the Mexican–American War as a captain and quartermaster, but often participated in the infantry fighting as well.

## U.S. Congress

[edit]

After the war, Barksdale became active in politics, advocating for the Compromise of 1850. His political visibility and recent military service gave him a strong profile as a political candidate. In 1852, he successfully ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Barksdale would win re-election, serving four terms from 1853 to 1861.[3]

### Tenure

[edit]

Representing Mississippi, a state with among the most rampant slavery, Barksdale quickly immersed himself in the national debates over slavery, weighing in on the side of enslavers. Barksdale was also a strong supporter of low tariffs, another hotly debated issue of the day.[4]

### Temperament and controversies

[edit]

Barksdale was considered to be one of the most ardent of all the "Fire-Eaters" in the House and became known as one who would quickly resort to fisticuffs when the temperature of the debate grew hotter.[5] Barksdale allegedly stood by the side of Representative Preston S. Brooks as Brooks attacked Massachusetts abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber with a cane, although he was not one of the members that the House tried to censure after the incident.

Before the start of the Civil War, Barksdale inadvertently helped stop one of the most notorious incidents of violence in U.S. legislative history. On February 5, 1858, a brawl between pro- and anti-slavery legislators started on the House floor. During the melee, Barksdale swung at Illinois congressman Elihu Washburne. Washburne's brother Cadwallader, a Wisconsin congressman, grabbed at Barksdale such that it knocked his wig off. An embarrassed Barksdale put it back on backward, causing both sides to break out laughing and stopping the fight.[6]

## Personal wealth

[edit]

Barksdale was a slave owner. His legal and newspaper work and his marriage to a wealthy family made Barksdale relatively wealthy. Contemporary reports indicate that by 1860, he owned 36 Negroes and a large plantation.[7]

## American Civil War

[edit]

After the state of Mississippi declared secession just before the start of the American Civil War, Barksdale resigned from Congress to become adjutant general, and then quartermaster general, of the Mississippi Militia, at the rank of brigadier general, with date of rank March 1, 1861. On May 1, he was appointed colonel in the Confederate States Army of the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment that he led in the First Battle of Bull Run that summer and the Battle of Ball's Bluff in October. The following spring, he took his regiment to the Virginia Peninsula and fought in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. When his brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Richard Griffith, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29, 1862, Barksdale assumed command of the brigade and led it in a bloody and futile charge at the Battle of Malvern Hill. The brigade became known as "Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade." He was promoted to brigadier general on August 12, 1862.

In the Northern Virginia Campaign, Barksdale's brigade was stationed at Harpers Ferry and thus did not participate in the Second Battle of Bull Run. In the Maryland Campaign, his brigade was assigned to the division of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws in Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was one of the brigades that attacked Maryland Heights, leading to the surrender of the U.S. Army garrison at Harpers Ferry. At the subsequent Battle of Antietam, McLaws's Division defended the West Woods against the assault by Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's division, defending the Confederate left flank. At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Barksdale's brigade defended the waterfront of the city from U.S. soldiers attempting to cross the Rappahannock River, sniping at infantry and engineers from buildings that had been turned into rubble by U.S. artillery.[8]

General Barksdale's cenotaph in Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi

At the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Barksdale's brigade was one of the few units in James Longstreet's Corps that was present at the battle; most of the corps was detached for duty in Suffolk, Virginia. Once again, Barksdale's brigade defended the heights above Fredericksburg, this time against his previous adversary, Sedgwick, whose VI Corps was over ten times the size of his brigade. Sedgwick's assault was successful, and Barksdale pulled back after delaying the U.S. force, but he was able to rally his brigade and retake the lost ground the next day.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, Barksdale's brigade arrived with McLaws's Division after the first day of battle, July 1, 1863. The plan from General Robert E. Lee was for Longstreet's Corps to maneuver into position and attack northeast, up the Emmitsburg Road, to roll up the U.S. left flank on July 2. Barksdale's sector of the attack placed him directly at the tip of the salient in the U.S. line anchored at the Peach Orchard, defended by the U.S. III Corps. At about 5:30 p.m., Barksdale's brigade burst from the woods and assaulted the line, described as one of the most breathtaking spectacles of the war. A U.S. Army colonel said, "It was the grandest charge that was ever made by mortal man."[9] Although he ordered his subordinate commanders to walk during the charge, Barksdale himself rode on horseback "in front, leading the way, hat off, his wispy hair shining so that it reminded [a Confederate staff officer] of 'the white plume of Navarre'."[10]

### Death

[edit]

The Confederates attacked the U.S. Army brigade defending the Peach Orchard line, wounding and capturing the brigade commander himself. Some of Barksdale's regiments turned to the north and shattered Maj. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys's division. Others of his regiments went straight ahead. By the time his men had gone as far as Plum Run, a mile into the assault, a brigade under U.S. Colonel George L. Willard counterattacked. Barksdale was wounded in his left knee, followed by a cannonball to his left foot, and finally was hit by another bullet to his chest, knocking him off his horse. Barksdale told his aide, W.R. Boyd, "I am killed! Tell my wife and children that I died fighting at my post."[11] His troops left him for dead on the field, and he died the next morning in a U.S. field hospital (the Joseph Hummelbaugh farmhouse).

Barksdale's remains were interred in the Barksdale family plot of Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi, with no marker, but he has cenotaphs in both Greenwood Cemetery and in Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Mississippi.[11][12]

## In popular media

[edit]

Barksdale is portrayed in the film Gettysburg and in the prequel, Gods and Generals, by Lester Kinsolving, who is a relative of Barksdale.

Barksdale is also featured in the 2011 History Channel film Gettysburg.

The streets in the Potomac Crossing subdivision in Leesburg, Virginia, are named (in part) after the regimental commanders of the Battle of Ball's Bluff (October 21, 1861). Barksdale Drive, named for Barksdale, is the primary east-west conduit in the development, running just short of a mile to either end of the neighborhood.

## See also

[edit]

* List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Barksdale, John Augustus (1940). Barksdale family history and genealogy (with collateral lines) / compiled by John A. Barksdale. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. [Richmond : William Byrd Press], 1940.
2. ^ James W. McKee, Jr. "Biography of William Barksdale". Encyclopedia of Mississippi.
3. ^ James W. McKee, Jr. "Biography of William Barksdale". Encyclopedia of Mississippi.
4. ^ James W. McKee, Jr. "Biography of William Barksdale". Encyclopedia of Mississippi.
5. ^ James W. McKee, Jr. "Biography of William Barksdale". Encyclopedia of Mississippi.
6. ^ McCullough, David (2011). The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. Simon & Schuster. p. 278. ISBN 9781416576891. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
7. ^ James W. McKee, Jr. "Biography of William Barksdale". Encyclopedia of Mississippi.
8. ^ Warner, p. 16.
9. ^ Clark, p. 102.
10. ^ Pfanz, pp. 320-21.
11. ^ a b William Barksdale biography Archived 2013-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
12. ^ White, Kristopher D. (2016-06-30). "Gettysburg Off the Beaten Path: The Death of William Barksdale". Emerging Civil War. Retrieved 2019-06-03.

## References

[edit]

* Clark, Champ, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. Gettysburg: The Confederate High Tide. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8094-4758-4.
* Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg – The Second Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8078-1749-X.
* Tagg, Larry. The Generals of Gettysburg. Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
* Tucker, Phillip T. Barksdale's Charge: The True High Tide of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Casemate Publishers, 2013. ISBN 9781612001791.
* Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.
* U.S. Congress Biographical Directory

## Further reading

[edit]

* Guelzo, Allen C. Gettysburg: The Last Invasion. New York: Knopf, 2013. ISBN 0-3075-9408-4.
* His Gallant Spirit Went Home: The Burial of General William Barksdale in Jackson Mississippians in the Confederate Army, 2013.

U.S. House of Representatives

Preceded by

Vacant

|  Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's at-large congressional district
1853 - 1855  | Succeeded by

District established

Preceded by

Otho R. Singleton

|  Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 3rd congressional district
1855 - 1859  | Succeeded by

Henry W. Barry

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