Samuel Jones (Confederate Army officer)

Samuel Jones
Samuel Jones
Born	December 17, 1819; Powhatan County, Virginia
Died	July 31, 1887 (aged 67); Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania
Place of burial	Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia
Allegiance	United States of America; Confederate States of America;
Service/branch	United States Army; Confederate States Army;
Years of service	1841–1861 (USA); 1861–1865 (CSA);
Rank	Captain (USA); Major general (CSA);
Commands held	Bartow's Brigade; Department of East Tennessee; Department of Western Virginia; Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida; Department of Florida and South Georgia
Battles/wars	American Civil War First Battle of Manassas; Battle of Blountville; Battle of Natural Bridge;
Other work	farmer, college president

Samuel Jones (December 17, 1819 – July 31, 1887) was a

major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War

. At the midpoint of the war, he commanded the Department of Western Virginia, defending the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and the vital salt mines. Later he commanded the district of South Carolina.

Early life

On December 17, 1819, Samuel Jones was born at "Woodfield", his parents' plantation in

Princeton College

. Jones' mother was Ann Moseley, daughter of Mr. Edward Moseley, of Powhatan County.

Jones was appointed a cadet at West Point

2nd Artillery Regiment on September 28, 1841. His first duty was on the Maine frontier, at Houlton, pending the Disputed Territory controversy with Canada

. He was on duty at West Point, 1846–51, as assistant professor of mathematics and assistant instructor in artillery and infantry tactics.

He was appointed assistant to the Judge Advocate of the Army at Washington and continued in the discharge of the duties of his position until he resigned his commission in the Army of the United States April 27, 1861. Thus immediately prior to the American Civil War he was on the staff of the Judge Advocate of the Army in Washington, D.C.^[2]

Civil War

With the secession of Virginia in 1861, Jones was commissioned as a major in the State of Virginia corps of artillery on May 1, 1861 in the military force of Virginia and later was promoted to be Colonel.

He later joined the Provisional Confederate Army and was promoted to

First Battle of Manassas, and was appointed to the command of the brigade of C.S. Army Colonel Francis S. Bartow

, which had lost its commander on the field of Manassas.

On January 22, 1862, C.S. Army Brigadier General Jones was appointed to the command of the department of which Pensacola was the headquarters. He was promoted to

John Cabell Breckinridge

.

From April, 1864 to October, 1864, he was in command of the

District of South Carolina until January 1865. When the Union Navy began shelling Charleston, South Carolina, Jones placed fifty captured Federal officers brought into town under guard. He then advised Union Maj. Gen. John G. Foster to stop the bombardment unless he wanted to risk killing his own men. An irate Foster retaliated by placing captured Confederates, including Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson

, directly in the line of fire from Jones's guns.

In February 1865, Jones was named the commander of the Department of Florida and South Georgia, a post he held until the end of hostilities. Here he made one of the last stands of the Confederacy at the Battle of Natural Bridge, and held his position until the surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. He surrendered at Tallahassee, Florida on May 10, 1865.