Brig. Gen John McCausland (CSA)

http://www.kelcran.com/Genealogy/descendants/descmca2/i0000023.htm#i23

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/McCausland_John_A_1836-1927

John A. McCausland was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Known as "Tiger John," the former mathematics professor was hailed as a hero by the citizens of Lynchburg, Virginia, for repulsing an attack by the Union general David Hunter in June 1864. A month later, however, McCausland was condemned as a villain by the citizens of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, for acting on the orders of Jubal A. Early and burning their Cumberland Valley town in retaliation for Union actions in the Shenandoah Valley. The incident followed the famously unreconstructed McCausland through the rest of his long life, forcing him to leave the country for a time after the surrender at Appomattox, and becoming the headline of his many obituaries in 1927.

McCausland was born on September 13, 1836, in Saint Louis, Missouri. His father was an immigrant from County Tyrone, Ireland; his mother was a native of Botetourt County, Virginia. After they both died in 1843, McCausland and his brothers lived with their grandmother and then their guardian uncle, who moved them to Henderson, Virginia (now West Virginia). McCausland was graduated first in his class from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington in 1857. After attending the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for a year, he returned to VMI to teach mathematics. As an assistant to Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, he helped to command VMI cadets who guarded the scaffolding from which John Brown was hanged on the morning of December 2, 1859, in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia).

At the outbreak of the Civil War, McCausland organized the Rockbridge Artillery—which became part of the Stonewall Brigade—but turned command of it over to William Nelson Pendleton. He then raised a second unit, the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment, which he led in the early campaigns in the Kanawha Valley in western Virginia. He served under former Virginia governor and United States secretary of war John B. Floyd at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in February 1862 when Floyd infamously fled with his Virginia soldiers rather than surrender to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. After Floyd was relieved of his command, McCausland returned to southwestern Virginia, where he would serve, in succession, under generals William W. Loring, John Echols, Samuel Jones, and Albert G. Jenkins.

After Jenkins was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain on May 9, 1864, McCausland took command of Jenkins's brigade, performed well, and was promoted to brigadier general on May 24. Soon after, Union brigadier general David Hunter and his new Army of West Virginia targeted Lynchburg, a major Confederate transportation hub, for attack. With Brigadier General John Imboden, McCausland fought a delaying action against Hunter on June 17, giving Lieutenant General Jubal Early time to arrive with reinforcements. Lynchburg was saved, and its citizens presented McCausland with an engraved gold sword, silver spurs, and a new horse.

McCausland then joined with Early in the first phase of the latter's Shenandoah Valley Campaign, which involved moving north into Maryland, Pennsylvania, and eventually to the outskirts of Washington, D.C. In part to avenge the Union burning of parts of the Shenandoah Valley, Early sent McCausland to Hagerstown, Maryland, where he demanded and received ransom; then, under Early's orders, McCausland moved farther north to the town of Chambersburg.

Located about twenty-five miles northwest of Gettysburg, Chambersburg—the Franklin County seat with a population of about five thousand—briefly had been a staging point for John Brown in 1859 and had already been occupied twice—in October 1862 by Major General J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry and in June 1863 by General Robert E. Lee'sArmy of Northern Virginia. McCausland arrived at the head of a detachment of cavalry on July 30, 1864, with orders to secure from the town a ransom of either one hundred thousand dollars in gold or five hundred thousand dollars in United States currency. Absent that, he should burn it, which he did by the early afternoon. The fire destroyed about five hundred and fifty buildings, left three thousand people homeless, and caused $1.6 million in damages.

After the raid on Chambersburg, McCausland operated for the remainder of the war with his brigade in the Shenandoah Valley, supporting Early against Union general Philip H. Sheridan. After the Battle of Waynesboro in March 1865, McCausland joined Confederate general Thomas L. Rosser for the Appomattox Campaign.

Also:

After Early's campaign failed, McCausland rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia in the Siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Five Forks, and the Appomattox Campaign. As at Fort Donelson, McCausland refused to surrender but escaped with his cavalry from Appomattox Court House before Robert E. Lee's surrender, but withdrew to Lynchburg and disbanded his unit soon after.[2][7] He was paroled in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 22, 1865."

McCausland refused to follow Lee in surrender on April 9, however. With the remnants of his command, he escaped the Union encirclement and shortly thereafter demobilized at Lynchburg. The prosecuting attorney of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, meanwhile, had obtained a warrant against McCausland on the charge of arson. McCausland responded by fleeing to Canada, then England, Scotland, and France, and finally Mexico. In 1867, after receiving indications from Grant that he would not be prosecuted, he returned to the United States and settled on a large estate in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia.

McCausland remained on his profitable farm until he died of natural causes on January 23, 1927. At the time of his death, he and Felix Robertson were the last of the Confederate brigadier generals still alive. McCausland was buried in Smith Cemetery in Henderson, West Virginia.

Time Line

September 13, 1836 - John A. McCausland is born in Saint Louis, Missouri.

1849 - John A. McCausland moves to Henderson, Virginia (now in West Virginia).

1853 - John A. McCausland enrolls at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.

1857 - John A. McCausland graduates first in his class from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.

1858 - John A. McCausland studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for a year.

1859 - After a year at the University of Virginia, John A. McCausland returns to the Virginia Military Institute as an assistant professor in mathematics.

December 2, 1859 - Eighty-five Virginia Military Institute cadets, under the leadership of Thomas J. Jackson and John McCausland, attend the execution of John Brown in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia).

1861 - John A. McCausland organizes and drills the Rockbridge Artillery but turns command over to William N. Pendleton. He then organizes and takes command of the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment.

July 17, 1861 - John A. McCausland sees his first combat during a small skirmish with Union troops under the command of Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox.

September 9, 1861 - Under the command of Confederate general John B. Floyd, John A. McCausland participates in the Battle of Carnifex Ferry.

February 14, 1862 - Union general Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

February 16, 1862 - Confederate generals John B. Floyd and John A. McCausland evacuate their men from Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in the early morning hours, leaving General Simon Bolivar Buckner to surrender the fort. The evacuation of Donelson will destroy Floyd's military career, but McCausland receives little criticism.

April 1862 - John A. McCausland returns to southwestern Virginia from action in the West.

May 9, 1864 - John A. McCausland takes command of Albert Jenkins's brigade at the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain after Jenkins receives a mortal wound.

May 24, 1864 - John A. McCausland is appointed brigadier general.

June 18, 1864 - Confederate forces under John A. McCausland turn Union general David Hunter back from Lynchburg, saving the city. A month later, McCausland receives a golden sword as a token of thanks from Lynchburg's citizens.

July 1864 - John A. McCausland joins Confederate general Jubal A. Early's raid against the North.

July 28, 1864 - Confederate general Jubal A. Early orders John A. McCausland to raid Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

July 30, 1864 - When the citizens of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, cannot produce the demanded ransom, Confederate general John A. McCausland burns the town.

1865 - John A. McCausland flees the United States, spending time in Canada, Europe, and Mexico before returning in 1867.

March 30, 1865 - John A. McCausland, under the command of General Thomas Rosser, fights at the Battle of Five Forks. He remains with the Army of Northern Virginia until his escape from Appomattox.

1867 - John A. McCausland returns to Saint Louis, Missouri, and sells his property there in order to acquire land in Henderson, West Virginia. A shrewd manager, McCausland soon has a productive and valuable farm in operation.

October 3, 1878 - John A. McCausland marries Emmet Charlotte Hannah. The two will have four children.

August 25, 1891 - Charlotte Hannah, wife of John A. McCausland, dies.

January 23, 1927 - John A. McCausland dies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCausland

John McCausland, Jr. (September 13, 1836 – January 22, 1927) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army, famous for the ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the razing of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. He was the last Confederate general to die.

Early life

McCausland was born in St. Louis, Missouri on September 13, 1836, the son of an immigrant from Ireland. He became an orphan in 1843 and went to live with relatives near Point Pleasant, Virginia, now in Mason County, West Virginia. He graduated with first honors in the class of 1857 at the Virginia Military Institute, and subsequently acted as assistant professor of mathematics in that institution until 1861. In 1859 he was present with a group of VMI cadets at the execution of John Brown at Charles Town.

Civil War

Immediately after the start of the Civil War, McCausland was placed in command of the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment, which had been formed from the 2nd Kanawaha Regiment and part of the 3rd Kanawha Regiment which had been recruited heavily from the south-western counties of present-day West Virginia. He was commissioned its colonel on July 16, 1861. He served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd in western Virginia and was transferred with his regiment to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to serve in Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston's army. He fought at the Battle of Fort Donelson and escaped with his command before it surrendered in February 1862. For the remainder of 1862 and 1863 he fought in the Department of Southwest Virginia.

McCausland was promoted to brigadier general on May 18, 1864, and served as a cavalry brigade commander in the Valley Campaigns of 1864, under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, raiding into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Under Early's orders, on July 30, 1864, McCausland burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in retaliation for the destruction of private property by Union Army Maj. Gen. David Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley, including the burning of the Virginia Military Institute. After the failure of Early's campaign, McCausland rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia in the Siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Five Forks, and the Appomattox Campaign. He escaped with his cavalry from Appomattox Court House before Robert E. Lee's surrender, but disbanded his unit soon after. He was paroled in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 22, 1865.

Postbellum life

After the war, McCausland spent two years in Europe and Mexico before returning to the United States. He faced arson charges for the burning of Chambersburg, but was pardoned by President Ulysses S. Grant. He acquired a tract of 6,000 acres (24 km²) in Mason County, West Virginia, where he lived as a farmer for more than 60 years.

McCausland died at his farm, "McCausland", in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the last Confederate general to die. He is buried in Henderson, West Virginia.