Alexander Lawton
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Alexander Robert Lawton
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| File:ARLawton.jpg | |
| Born | November 4, 1818 Beaufort County, South Carolina |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Clifton Springs, New York |
| Allegiance |  United States of America Confederate States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Army Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1839–1841 (USA) 1861–1865 (CSA) |
| Rank |  Second Lieutenant (USA) Brigadier General (CSA) |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
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.
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.[1]
Civil War
Lawton 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 led his brigade effectively during Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, and the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas). His last field service was at the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), where he commanded the division of the wounded Maj. Gen. 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.
Postbellum 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-Hungary and left that post in 1889.[2] Lawton died in Clifton Springs, New York.[1]
See also
- List of American Civil War generals
- Battle of Fort Pulaski, Background, "Department of Georgia".
References
- Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889.
External links
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: Alexander Robert Lawton |
- Photo Gallery of Lawton at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 2008)
| Diplomatic posts | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary 1887 - 1889 |
Succeeded by Frederick D. Grant |
- Pages with broken file links
- 1818 births
- 1896 deaths
- People from Beaufort County, South Carolina
- Harvard Law School alumni
- Confederate States Army brigadier generals
- United States Military Academy alumni
- People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
- Presidents of the American Bar Association
- Ambassadors of the United States to Austria-Hungary
- People from Savannah, Georgia
- 19th-century American diplomats
