Civil War
When secession passed, Alcorn cast his lot with the Confederacy and was selected as a brigadier general by the state. During the American Civil War, he was in uniform for about 18 months of inconspicuous service, mainly in raising troops and in garrison duty. He was taken prisoner in Arkansas in 1862 and paroled late in the year. He returned to his plantation. In 1863, he was elected to the Mississippi state legislature. Both his sons, James Alcorn, Jr., and Henry Alcorn, died during the war – James Jr. in battle and Henry of typhoid fever. He managed to maintain his wealth during the Civil War by trading cotton with the North. After the war, he was estimated to be among the fifty wealthiest men in the New South.
The monument on the mound, the location of the family cemetery at Alcorn's plantation, attributes Jame Lusk Alcorn, Jr's death to the 'insane war of rebellion" (undoubtedly Alcorn's words). J. L. Alcorn Jr. committed suicide in 1879 after returning home from the war partially deaf and a drunk. Hal Alcorn ran away against his father's wishes during the war to join the military, fell sick, was left behind, captured, made his way to Richmond after the surrender, some family friends tried to help him get home, but he died on the way. Alcorn had a statue made of himself, after his death it was put on the mound, on his grave.
Read more about this topic: James L. Alcorn
Famous quotes related to civil war:
“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.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
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—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)