David E. Twiggs

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David E. Twiggs
Major General, CSA
Commands heldDepartment of the West
Battles/warsWar of 1812
Mexican–American War
Abraham C. Myers (son-in-law)
John Twiggs Myers (grandson)
Sarah Lowe Twiggs
(great-niece)

David Emanuel Twiggs (February 14, 1790 – July 15, 1862), born in Georgia, was a career army officer, serving during the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and Mexican–American War.

As commander of the U.S. Army's

general
to serve in the Civil War.

Early life

Twiggs was born in 1790 on the "Good Hope" plantation in Richmond County, Georgia, son of John Twiggs and his wife, Ruth Emanuel.[2] A general in the Georgia militia during the American Revolutionary War, the senior Twiggs was the namesake for Twiggs County, Georgia.[3] He was the nephew, through his mother, of David Emanuel, Governor of Georgia.[4]

Early military career

Twiggs volunteered for service as a captain during the War of 1812 and made a career in the military.[5]

In 1816, Twiggs was ordered by Major General Edmund P. Gaines to set out from Fort Montgomery and establish a new fort on the border of the Alabama Territory and Spanish West Florida. This new fort was known as Fort Crawford. After serving at Fort Crawford, Twiggs became commandant of Fort Scott.[6]

In 1828, he was sent to Wisconsin to establish a fort at the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. With three companies of the First Infantry, his forces built

Fort Winnebago Surgeon's Quarters at Portage, Wisconsin.[7] This was a base of operation during the Black Hawk War.[citation needed
]

Twiggs was commissioned as

2nd U.S. Dragoons in 1836 and served in the Seminole Wars in Florida, where he earned the nickname "Bengal Tiger" for his fierce temper.[citation needed] He also decided to act offensively against the Seminole rather than wait for them to strike first. Some of the Seminole moved deep into the Everglades, evading U.S. forces. They never surrendered, and the U.S. government finally gave up on hopes of removing them to Indian Territory.[citation needed
]

Mexican–American War

During the

Veracruz through Mexico City. He was wounded during the assault on Chapultepec.[2] After the fall of Mexico City, he was appointed military governor of Veracruz. Brigadier General Twiggs was awarded a ceremonial sword by the Congress on March 2, 1849. He was an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847, a military society of officers who had served in the Mexican War.[8]

David Emanuel Twiggs, 1850

Commander of the Department of Texas

After the

William Harney. As there was then no mandatory retirement, all four men were over the age of 60, with three having served in the War of 1812 half a century earlier.[8]

Twiggs's command included about 20% of the U.S. Army guarding the Mexican border. As states began to declare

Samuel A. Maverick. Twiggs surrendered his entire command — all the federal installations, property, and soldiers in Texas — to the Confederacy. This included 20 military installations (including the U.S. Arsenal at the Alamo), 44 cannons, 400 pistols, 1,900 muskets, 500 wagons, and 950 horses, valued at $1.6 million.[2] He insisted that all U.S. soldiers be allowed to retain personal arms and sidearms, all artillery (?), and flags and standards. Shortly after the declared secession of South Carolina in December 1860, Twiggs wrote a letter to Scott that proclaimed that Georgia was his home and that Twiggs would follow the state if it declared secession from the United States.[citation needed
]

Confederate service

Twiggs was dismissed from the

major general from the Confederate States Army on May 22, 1861. He was assigned to command the Confederate Department of Louisiana (comprising that state along with the southern half of Mississippi and Alabama), but he was past the age of 70 and in poor health. He resigned from his commission before he could assume any active duty. Mansfield Lovell succeeded him in the command of New Orleans.[10]
Twiggs retired on October 11, 1861.

Death and burial

Twiggs died of pneumonia in Augusta, Georgia, on July 15, 1862. He is buried in Twiggs Cemetery, also known as the Family Burying Ground, on Good Hope Plantation[11] in Richmond County, Georgia.

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
    . p. 538.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cutrer, Thomas W.; Smith, David Paul. "TSHA | Twiggs, David Emanuel". www.tshaonline.org. Austin, TX: Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  3. ISBN 0-915430-00-2
    .
  4. ^ "John Twiggs (1750-1816)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  5. ^ Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year: 1862. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 775.
  6. ^ Waters, Annie. "A Documentary History of Fort Crawford". City of East Brewton. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ a b "DAVID EMANUEL TWIGGS - Original Member of the Aztec Club of 1847". www.aztecclub.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  9. ^ "New York Times, March 4, 1861'
  10. ISBN 0-8071-0834-0
    , p. 64
  11. ^ "Family Burying Ground on Good Hope Plantation". hmdb.org. Retrieved December 27, 2015. The site of Good Hope Plantation, home of the Twiggs family, was developed as Bush Field, the Augusta municipal airport. It is located less than a half mile northeast of the cemetery.

References

External links
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