Alexander Lawton
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Alexander Robert Lawton (November 4, 1818 – July 2, 1896) was a lawyer, politician, diplomat and brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
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[edit] Early life
Lawton was born in the Beaufort District of South Carolina. He was the son of Alexander James Lawton and Martha Mosse. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1839, placing 13th out of 31 in his class. He served as a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery until resigning his commission in 1840 to study law. He attended the Harvard Law School, graduating in 1842. He settled in Savannah, Georgia, and entered the fields of law, railroad administration and state politics.
[edit] Civil War
He favored Georgia's secession and became Colonel of the 1st Georgia Volunteers. He commanded the Savannah troops that seized Fort Pulaski, the first conflict of the war in Georgia. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate army on April 13, 1861, and commanded the forces guarding Georgia's seacoast before being reassigned to Virginia. He effectively led his brigade during Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Seven Days' Battles and the Second Battle of Manassas. His last field service was at Sharpsburg, where he commanded the division of the wounded Richard S. Ewell. Lawton was seriously wounded early in the morning of September 17, 1862, while defending his portion of the Army of Northern Virginia's line. Initially carried from the field to a temporary hospital, he spent months at home recuperating.
In August 1863, Lawton became the Confederacy's second Quartermaster General. Although he brought energy and resourcefulness to the position, he was unable to solve the problem of material shortages and poorly-regulated railroads.
[edit] Post-bellum career
In the years after the Civil War, Lawton became increasingly important as a political figure in Georgia, serving in various administrative posts. He lost the 1880 election for the U.S. Senate in an election which seemed to represent a victory of the "New South" over the "Old South." He was chosen President of the American Bar Association in 1882. Five years later, he was appointed Minister to Austria. Lawton died in Clifton Springs, New York.
[edit] References and links
- Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889.
- Photo Gallery of Lawton
- On-line biography
