Civil War Service
With the subsequent outbreak of war, Gholson enlisted as a private in the Monroe Volunteers of Monroe County, Mississippi, (which became Company I, 14th Mississippi Infantry). He served from 1861 until 1863 in the state troops, rising successively through the ranks to captain, colonel, and then to brigadier general. During the Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee, he was badly wounded by a bullet that passed through his right lung. He was among the thousands of troops who were surrendered to the Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant. After his exchange, Gholson returned to active duty and fought at Iuka and then at Corinth, both in Mississippi.
By mid-1863, Gholson held the rank of major general of Mississippi State Troops. He was awarded the grade of brigadier general in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States to rank from May 6, 1864. He was placed in command of a brigade of cavalry attached to the division of Brig. Gen. James Chalmers under Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest. While serving in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, Gholson was severely wounded in a fight with Union cavalry on December 27, 1864, at Egypt, Mississippi. His left arm had to be amputated, ending his combat duty for the duration of the war.
Read more about this topic: Samuel J. Gholson
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, civil, war and/or service:
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Luxury, or a refinement on the pleasures and conveniences of life, had long been supposed the source of every corruption in government, and the immediate cause of faction, sedition, civil wars, and the total loss of liberty. It was, therefore, universally regarded as a vice, and was an object of declamation to all satyrists, and severe moralists.”
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“If we don’t end war, war will end us.”
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“O good old man, how well in thee appears
The constant service of the antique world,
When service sweat for duty, not for meed!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)