Alvan Cullem Gillem

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Alvan Cullem Gillem
Third Seminole War
American Civil War
Modoc War

Alvan Cullem Gillem (July 29, 1830 – December 2, 1875) was a general in the

Reconstruction. He later played a prominent role in the Modoc War
in 1873.

Early life and career

Gillem was born in

Third Seminole War until 1852. He was then reassigned to the Texas
frontier following the war.

Civil War

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Gillem became a

10th Tennessee Infantry in May 1862 and served for a time as the provost marshal of Nashville during the Federal occupation of the city. He and military governor Andrew Johnson had "developed an extremely close friendship" and Gillem was put in command of the "Governor's Guard" which consisted of the 10th Tennessee, a battery of light artillery, and three cavalry regiments, all of which were essentially a "personal army" under Johnson's control.[1]

From June 1, 1863, until the close of the war, with rank of

Knoxville and the battle became known as “Gillem’s Stampede.” Operating later in the year near Marion, Virginia, Gillem performed well in combat against the Confederates and was again recognized for bravery, being brevetted as a colonel in the Regular Army
.

Gillem was vice-president of the convention (January 9, 1865) for the revision of the constitution of the State of Tennessee, and sat in the first Legislature elected thereafter. Afterwards, Gillem commanded the Union cavalry in east Tennessee, and participated in an expedition to North Carolina which resulted in the capture of Salisbury. For this action, he was brevetted as a major general in the volunteer army, his third such citation of the war.

Postbellum

Following the war, in January 1866, Gillem was assigned command of the

Radical Republicans in the United States Congress
over his lenient treatment of ex-Confederate soldiers in his district.

When Ulysses S. Grant assumed the Presidency in 1869, Gillem was removed from the Fourth Military District in favor of Grant's personal friend Edward Ord. He was reassigned to duty in Texas, and later to California, where he was prominent in the military operations against the Modoc Indians in 1873. He was engaged in the attack at the Lava Beds on April 15, 1873. However, some of his troops were surprised and thoroughly beaten on April 26 at the Battle of Sand Butte, losing over 40% of their strength. Following the so-called "Thomas-Wright Massacre", many called for Colonel Gillem to be removed. On May 2, the new commander of the Department of the Columbia, Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis formally relieved Gillem of command, and personally assumed control of the army in the field.

In 1875, Gillem became seriously ill and returned home to Tennessee to recuperate. However, he died of consumption[3] in the Soldier's Rest home near Nashville at the relatively young age of 45. He was buried in the city's Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Genealogy

Gillem married Margaret Jones (1838–1878) on July 23, 1855
They had two children:

  1. Jennie Jones Gillem (1859–1884). She married John Donnell on ?, becoming Jennie Jones Gillem Donnell. She had one child who died eight days after his birth.
    1. Alvan Cullem Gillem Donnell (1881–1881).
  2. Alvin Cullom Gillem Sr. (1865–1935). First commissioned a Captain of US Volunteers in the 1st Tennessee Infantry in 1898. Later retired as a Colonel of Cavalry in the US Army. Married Lillian Courts, with whom he had three children. Following her death, he married Bessie Coykendall, who became Bessie Coykendall Gillem. His children with Lillian included Alvan Cullom Gillem Jr. who commanded the XIII Corps during World War II and rose to the rank of lieutenant general.

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-0-527-62185-8
    .
  2. ^ Campbell, S. (April 30, 2010). "The Battle of Morristown, 1864". Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "Mt. Olivet Interment Records". Tennessee State Library & Archives (tslaindexes.tn.gov). Retrieved 2024-01-20.

References

External links

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