Sgt. James Madison "Matt" Luxton (CSA)

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=41531271

James Madison Luxton was a younger half-brother of famed Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. He went by Matt Luxton, and enlisted in the Confederate States Army cavalry in April, 1861.

Luxton enlisted as a private on September 1, 1861, at Memphis, Tennessee, in Co. "D" of the 7th TN Cavalry (Forrest's unit). By the end of the war this unit is known as Company "C", 3rd TN Cavalry. It is also listed as Forrest's unit in the Tennessee Archives. J.M. Luxton's grave shows Company "C" while various muster records show Company "D", 7th TN. His name appears on company muster rolls for October 16, 1861, taken by Captain Forrest near Memphis, Tennessee.

He advanced in rank to SGT by the war's end, but in June of 1865 was charged with war crimes and went to trial.

On the 7th of June, 1865, a military commission headed by COL George W. McKeaig. Before the commission, Matt Luxton, a notorious guerilla, and a half brother of the rebel GEN N. B. Forrest, was brought to trial for his crimes. Owning to the difficulty the Government had in getting witnesses, the trial dragged along for 80 days. But at last he was convicted of murder and being a guerilla, and sentenced to die. He, however, managed to escape, probably bribing the jailor.

His friends offered thousands of dollars for his release. His mother and Bedford Forrest, his half brother, attended his trial almost daily. He was defended by Captain Henry Lee, a Union officer.

Interestingly, Matt Luxton applied for a Confederate pension in 1914, which was granted in 1918.