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| General Randall Lee Gibson & Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. in the Civil War |
| (b. 10 SEPT 1832; d. 15 DEC 1892) (b. 2 APR 1839; d. 22 MAY 1900) |
Randall Lee Gibson was born in Versailles, Kentucky to Tobias and Louisiana (Hart) Gibson. His father was a prominent sugar planter in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Young Gibson graduated first in the class of 1853 from Yale College, studied law at the University of Louisiana in 1855, and traveled Europe before becoming a planter in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana in 1858. He had three sons by his marriage to Mary Montgomery on January 25, 1868. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gibson, a Democrat, became aide-de-camp to Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana. (Also see Randall Lee Gibson's Congressional Biography http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000165">GIBSON) In August 1861 he became colonel of the 13th Louisiana Regiment and soon became known for his discipline. He performed well while commanding the 4th Louisiana brigade at the battle of Shiloh and suffered enormous casualties at Hornet's Nest. He distinguished himself at Perryville in 1862. In 1863, Gibson also participated in the Tennessee battles of Murfreesboro and Missionary Ridge and commanded a brigade at Chickamauga. On January 11, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier general. He subsequently fought with distinction in the Atlanta campaign (1864) at the Battle of Bald Hill. At the Battle of Ezra Church (outside Atlanta) Gibson's brigade was decimated. He fought at the Battle of Jonesboro and again had severe losses. In the Nashville campaign (1864) he protected the rear of Hood's army on its retreat. In the spring of 1865, he held the Spanish Fort at Mobile. He surrendered and was later paroled in May 1865 along with my great-grandfather Daniel H. Willis, Jr. After the war, Gibson returned to planting and practiced law in New Orleans. He was elected (but not seated) as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1872; he was reelected and seated two years later and served continuously until 1882. >From 1883 to 1892, he served in the U.S. Senate. In 1886, my great-grandfather Daniel H. Willis, Jr. named his youngest son, Randall Lee Willis, after his former commander in the Civil War, General Randall Lee Gibson. I was named after my grandfather Randall Lee Willis. Gibson was an agent for Paul Tulane in founding Tulane University, of which Gibson was the first president of the board in 1885. He died December 15, 1892, on a vacation in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Yale in the Civil War; Fortier, A History of Louisiana, I. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy, Walkelyn. My great-grandfather, Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr., enlisted, September 29, 1861, at Camp Moore, La., in the Confederate Army as a Pvt. 5th. Company Battalion, Washington Artillery of Louisiana. He was (Mar. 16, 1864) in Raxdale's Company E, 16th. La. Regiment, Gibson's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to 2nd Sergt. on Mar. 5, 1865. He was captured and made a prisoner of war. Daniel was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi on May 14, 1865. (Also see Andrew B. Booth, "Records of Louisiana Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands," (New Orleans, La. 1920) Vol. I: 1115) . Current, ed., Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (also see Army of Tennessee Louisiana Division The Association and Tumulus by Jerry Johnson Wier, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1999). Also see LOUISIANA HISTORY, the journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 28, pp. 245-262 and vol. 36, pp. 389-411. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. fought in many of the great battles of the Civil War, including Shiloh, Bull Run, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga. He was for a long time connected with the famous Washington Artillery, and at the battle of Chicamauga so many horses of the battery to which he was attached were killed that they had to pull the guns off the field by hand to keep them from falling in the hands of the enemy. Excerpts from Daniel H. Willis, Jr.'s obituary: Alexandria Town Talk, 23 June 1900: "He was paroled at Meridian, Miss., in May, 1865, and brought home with him a copy of General Gibson's farewell address to his soldiers and of him it can be truly said that through the remaining years of his life he followed the advice then given by his beloved commander. His love for the Southern cause, and for the men who wore the gray, was not dimmed by years, but he lived and died firmly convinced of the justice of the cause for which the South poured out so much of her best blood and treasure...Before death he expressed a wish that he might see his children who were at home, especially Randall L., his baby boy, whom he had named in honor of his beloved Brigadier General, Randall Lee Gibson. He also requested that his Confederate badge be pinned on his breast and buried with him." |
| Photo of General Randall Lee Gibson |
Daniel H. Willis, Jr.
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HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, RUGGLES' DIVISION, Corinth, Miss., April 12, 1862 |
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by the First Brigade, Ruggles' division, composed of the Nineteenth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, Col. B. L. Hodge; First Arkansas Regiment, Col. James F. Fagan; Thirteenth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, Maj. A. P. Avegno commanding, and the Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, Col. H. W. Allen, in the action of the 6th and 7th instant: At daybreak on the morning of the 6th the brigade was posted on the right of Ruggles' division and held in double column at half distance by command of Brigadier-General Ruggles, the right resting on the Old Ridge road. Its position was afterwards changed farther to the right, the left brought up to the Old Ridge road by order of Major-General Bragg. I was then ordered to march rapidly, by the right flank, to the support of Brigadier-General Hindman. In the execution of this order we passed within reach of a battery of the enemy on our left, from the fire of which several casualties resulted. Proceeding 'again by the left flank in line of battle, we marched through the enemy's camp and up to the battery, which was taken at the instant by the first line. It was at this point that we first opened fire on the enemy. Proceeding 'again by the left flank in line of battle, we marched through the enemy's camp and up to the battery, which was taken at the instant by the first line. It was at this point that we first opened fire on the enemy. I was then commanded by Major-General Bragg to attack the enemy in a position to the front and right. The brigade moved forward in fine style, marching through an open field under a heavy fire and half way up an elevation covered with an almost impenetrable thicket, upon which the enemy was posted. On the left a battery opened that raked our flank, while a steady fire of musketry extended along the entire front. Under this combined fire our line was broken and the troops fell back; but they were soon rallied and advanced to the contest. Four times the position was charged and four times the assault proved unavailing. The strong and almost inaccessible position of the enemy-- his infantry well covered in ambush and his artillery skillfully posted and efficiently served-- was found to be impregnable to infantry alone. We were repulsed. Our men, however, bore their repulse with steadiness. When a larger force of infantry and artillery was moved to flank this position on the right, a part of the brigade formed on the left of the assaulting line, and a part held a position to the rear in the old field near by. The enemy was driven from his position. From this his retreat became precipitate, and in obedience to orders we moved with the main body of the army toward the river. I was again commanded by Brigadier-General Ruggles to retire my command from the fire of the gunboats. In this movement considerable disorder ensued, owing to the fact that all the troops were closely massed near the river. My whole command was kept together for the night, except the Nineteenth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, Col. B. L. Hodge, who, in spite of my exertions and his own, did not succeed in reporting to me until after the battle of the 7th. We had hardly taken position in line of battle, under the immediate supervision of Brigadier-General Ruggles, early on the morning of the 7th instant, when I was ordered to advance a certain distance and then oblique to the right. An abrupt descent of 50 or 60 feet, perhaps more, from a ridge to a swamp, added very much to the fatigue of the men and disturbed very decidedly the regularity and rapidity of this movement. At the command, however, to charge a battery, on the right flank of which we were marching, they advanced with enthusiasm, and captured a field battery from the enemy under a galling fire. Finding that a battery was playing upon us from the right, while the enemy was attempting to throw forward a heavy force on our left, with a view of assailing our own battery to our rear and circumventing my entire command. I withdrew the brigade into a ravine and threw forward a portion of the troops to my left, whose steady fire drove back the advancing lines. I also sent forward officers to bring down the battery we had captured from the summit of the hill upon which our flag was posted, with a view of opening its guns on the enemy, but the want of ammunition prevented this. At about this moment I was ordered to proceed in all haste to the position assigned me in the morning, near which the battle was now hotly contested. The route we were obliged to take was at times very abrupt, thickly covered with undergrowth, and filled with swampy bottoms. My men were considerably jaded and scattered in the rapid march, but just so soon as they could be formed in line and replenished with ammunition they were hurried into the fight. Under the inspiration of the presence of our superior officers (Generals Beauregard and Ruggles), men already sinking with fatigue or wounds rallied again and entered the lines. It was impossible to pre serve much order in this movement. Colonel Fagan (First Arkansas) led his regiment to the charge; Major Avegno the Thirteenth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers; Lieutenant-Colonel Hunter (Colonel Allen having been wounded the day previous) rallied the Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers. The regiments were somewhat mixed, but altogether the brigade moved forward. We continued the conflict until the forces generally retired, and at the last position, near the hospital, it was gratifying to see so many officers and men of the brigade formed in line ready to meet the enemy. Under orders from Major-General Bragg I moved to the rear and encamped at Monterey. Such was the part, briefly stated, borne by the First Brigade in the engagements of the 6th and 7th instant. It is not my duty to laud either the officers or the men. A report annexed will show the loss it sustained in killed, wounded, and missing. That regiments thrown together for the first time should have moved throughout the battle with precision and celerity was scarcely to be expected; but that their disposition was good cannot be questioned. A loss of nearly one-third of the entire command in killed, wounded, and missing of itself proclaims the steadfast valor of the men. The names of the brave dead will be treasured in the hearts of their countrymen. Their gallant deeds shall immortalize the last scene of Confederate triumph and inspire their surviving comrades with the desire to emulate their examples. Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, Captains Gibson, McMahon, and several other officers of the First Arkansas, and Captain Hilliard, of the Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, fell, at the head of their men on the first day, as patriots fall, for country and fireside. They were noble soldiers. On the second day the gallant Captain Tooraen was killed while urging forward his men; Maj. A. P. Avegno was dangerously wounded while rallying his command. Colonels Hodge (Nineteenth), H. W. Allen (Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers), and Fagan (First Arkansas) were everywhere, stimulating officers and men to do their duty to their country. So likewise were Lieut. Col. S. E. Hunter (Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers) and Captain Dubroca (Thirteenth Regiment Volunteers), while in command of their respective regiments. On the second day the gallant Captain Tooraen was killed while urging forward his men; Maj. A. P. Avegno was dangerously wounded while rallying his command. Colonels Hodge (Nineteenth), H. W. Allen (Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers), and Fagan (First Arkansas) were everywhere, stimulating officers and men to do their duty to their country. So likewise were Lieut. Col. S. E. Hunter (Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers) and Captain Dubroca (Thirteenth Regiment Volunteers), while in command of their respective regiments. Many of the companies of the different regiments were left without officers. In the capture of the battery on the second day the officers and men discovered the qualities of true and heroic soldiers. It was in the first charge on the 6th that Lieut. Ben. King was mortally wounded. Although recently promoted to the staff of Brigadier-General Ruggles, he was acting as my aide, and up to the moment that he received his mortal wound bore himself with great coolness and gallantry. He had long been associated with me, and his loss deprived his country of one of its most accomplished, brave, and devoted officers. He fell in the discharge of his duty, and was borne from the field without a word, but of good cheer to those near him. Among the living, where all acted well, it would perhaps be invidious to mention any who may have rendered themselves more conspicuous than others. Mr. Robert Pugh, as my aide, on the 6th, rendered valuable services, and Lieut. H. H. Bein, acting assistant adjutant-general, also during the same day was of very great assistance to me. The loss of so many brave officers and true men, together with the hardships endured in falling back to this point, had at first a depressing effect on the command, but it is rallying very fast, and will again move forward with resolution to meet our defeated foe. |
I have the honor to remain, captain, your obedient servant RANDALL LEE GIBSON, Colonel, Commanding First Brigade, Ruggles' Division |
HEADQUARTERS ADAMS' BRIGADE, August 1, 1863. |
