Harvard University’s Boys in Gray

 The Blue versus the Gray, or the North versus the South, is often how we interpret the two opposing sides during the war. That is true to a degree, but often forgotten is just how connected the North and South were. Cotton grown in the South by slaves fueled textile miles in New England; wheat and rye grown in the Ohio River Valley floated down the Mississippi River en route to plantations to feed workers; farm machinery manufactured up North could often be found in Southern fields. This even holds true to education. For the elite, attending a college in the North was seen as a way for  advancement.

Each of what we consider the Ivy League schools, like the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Yale University, and Harvard University, had Southern students who, despite their Northern education, fought for the South.

Harvard University was founded in 1636. It is the oldest university in the country. Some famous graduates include astronomer John Winthrop; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story; Revolutionary War Major General Artemas Ward; and minister Cotton Mather.

357 Southerners attended or graduated from Harvard prior to the war. Of that number, sixty-four were killed in action, and twelve died of disease. Sixteen achieved the rank of general.

Major General Henry C. Wayne, class of 1834, transferred from Harvard to West Point, graduating in 1838. He fought in the Mexican American War and worked with camels out west. Wayne resigned his commission in December 1861, and returning to Georgia, was commissioned Georgia’s adjutant and inspector general. In December 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general in Confederate service. When he was ordered to Virginia, Wayne resigned, preferring to serve in Georgia. During the Atlanta Campaign, he commanded a two-brigade division of Georgia militia and cadets. After the war, he returned to Savannah and worked in the lumber industry.

Brigadier General William Preston, class of 1838, Harvard Law School, was born in Kentucky. Besides practicing law, he served as lieutenant colonel of the 4^th Kentucky Infantry during the Mexican American War, served in the state house, in the US House, and as Minister to Spain. During the war he served as an aide-de-camp to Albert Sidney Johnson, was promoted to brigadier general in April 1862, and commanded a brigade under Breckinridge. Eventually, Preston was sent as an envoy to Mexico. After the war, he practiced law in Kentucky.

Alexander Lawton

Brigadier General Alexander Lawton, class of 1843, Harvard Law School, graduated from West Point, but resigned to study law. After graduation, the South Carolinian practiced law in Savannah, Georgia. He then ran a railroad and served in the Georgia house and senate. After secession, Lawton was elected colonel of the 1^st Georgia Volunteers. Lawton was promoted to brigadier general in February 1861. His brigade served in Jackson’s division in the Shenandoah Valley, Seven Days, and Ewell’s Division at Second Manassas. After Ewell was wounded, Lawton took command of the division, and was wounded at Sharpsburg. He never returned to active field command. Lawton was assigned as Quartermaster General. After the war, Lawton served in the state legislature and was minister to Austria.

Brigadier General John Echols, class of 1843, Harvard Law School, was born in Virginia and served as the Commonwealth’s attorney and in the House of Commons prior to the war. He was also a member of the Virginia Secession Convention. At Manassas, he commanded a regiment under Stonewall Jackson. His action at Kernstown, in which he was wounded, led to his promotion to brigadier general. He commanded the Department of Southwestern Virginia for a time, until ill health led to his resignation. After duty on a court of inquiry regarding the surrender of Vicksburg, Echols returned to active duty, commanding a brigade in the Army of Western Virginia. In August 1864, he assumed command of the District of Southwest Virginia. He was replaced by Jubal Early on March 30, 1865. After the war, Echols was president of a bank, organized a railroad, was on the board of Visitor of Washington and Lee College and the Virginia Military Institute, and ran other businesses.

Major General William B. Taliaferro, class of 1843, Harvard Law School, served in the Mexican American War and the Virginia House and militia. Taliaferro was elected colonel of the 23^rd Virginia Infantry, and by the end of 1861, was commanding a brigade. Although he was feuding with Jackson, he was promoted to brigadier general in March 1862. Taliaferro served under Jackson through the Shenandoah Valley and Seven Days Campaign, and assumed command of Jackson’s old division after Charles Winder was killed at Cedar Mountain. He was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, commanding the defenses at Battery Wagner, and then James Island, then Savannah, finally commanding a division under Johnston in North Carolina. After the war, he returned to Virginia, serving in the legislature and as a judge.

Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, class of 1845, was born in Kentucky, and was the son of Zachary Taylor. He was a large plantation owner and served in the Louisiana senate. He was elected colonel of the 9^th Louisiana Infantry, and in September 1861, was promoted to brigadier general. Taylor fought in Virginia under Jackson and was promoted to major general in June 1862. He transferred back to Louisiana, where he feuded with E. Kirby Smith. He fought at Fort Bisland, Fort Franklin, Red River Valley, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and then was appointed commander of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, with a promotion to lieutenant general. After the war, Taylor worked on rebuilding his plantations and worked against the Radical Republicans and Reconstruction.

Brigadier General Stephen Elliott, Jr., class of 1849, was a South Carolina planter, state legislator, and commanded a militia artillery battery. He was present at the capture of Fort Sumter, served as a company commander in the 11^th South Carolina Infantry, and then rejoined the artillery. He was highly active along the South Carolina coast, later serving as the commander of Fort Sumter. In April 1864, Elliott was promoted colonel of the Holcombe Legion, seeing service guarding the Weldon Railroad and at Bermuda Hundred. He was promoted to brigadier general in May 1864, commanding a brigade of South Carolina regiments. Elliott was seriously wounded while repulsing the attack at the Crater and did not return to duty until December 1864. He briefly commanded in North Carolina but returned to South Carolina. Elliott only lived a year after the war, dying of the effects of his wounds.

Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins, class of 1850, Harvard Law School, was a lawyer and United States Congressman prior to the war. He organized a cavalry company, then served as colonel of the 8^th Virginia Cavalry. He gave up that command to serve in the first Confederate Congress, then secured an appointment as a brigadier general. He led a couple of raids into present-day West Virginia before being assigned to the Army of Northern Virginia prior to the Gettysburg Campaign. Following the campaign, he was mortally wounded at the May 1864 battle of Cloyd’s Mountain.

Brigadier General John R. Cooke, class of 1851, civil engineering, was born in Missouri, the son of Philip St. George Cooke. After graduating from Harvard, he entered the military, serving in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Once the war began, he served as a staff officer, commanded an artillery battery, and was colonel of the 27^th North Carolina. Cooke was promoted to brigadier general in November 1862. His North Carolina brigade fought behind the stone wall at the foot of Marye’s Heights at Fredericksburg, and was wounded seven times throughout the war, including at Bristoe Station and at the Wilderness. After the war, he founded the Confederate Soldiers Home in Richmond.

Brigadier General Bradley Johnson, class of 1852, Harvard Law School. Born in Maryland, Johnson was the state’s attorney general. Once the war came, he organized a company of men, then served in the 1^st Maryland, fighting at First Manassas. He fought at various battles in the campaigns of 1862, and Stonewall Jackson recommended him for promotion to brigadier general. That promotion did not come until June 1864. Johnson commanded Grumble Jones’s brigade during Early’s advance on Washington, D.C. In November 1864, Johnson was assigned as commander of Salisbury Prison. After the war, he served in the Virginia Senate and practiced law before returning to Maryland.

Brigadier General States Rights Gist, class of 1852, Harvard Law School. Born in South Carolina, he practiced law and served in the militia prior to war. At Manassas, he served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to Barnard E. Bee. Promotion to brigadier general came in March 1862. Gist commanded on James Island, serving along the coast until May 1863 when he was sent to Mississippi, and then with the Army of Tennessee, fighting at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the battles for Atlanta, and Franklin, where he was killed.

Brigadier General Martin W. Gary, class of 1854, was a state legislator. He served as a captain in Hampton’s Legion. When the Legion was reorganized in 1862, Gary was elected lieutenant colonel, commanding the infantry battalion. The list of battles he fought in is lengthy. In April 1864, he was commanding the cavalry brigade, Department of Richmond. He was promoted to brigadier general in June 1864. His brigade supplied the only mounted troops protecting Richmond from September to December 1864. Gary refused to surrender at Appomattox and escaped. He was a leader in South Carolina after the war.

Brigadier General John Clark, Jr., class of 1854, Harvard Law School, was born in Missouri and was a practicing attorning when the war came. He rose through the ranks, serving as a company grade and field and staff officer in the 6^th Missouri Infantry. At the battle of Pea Ridge, Colonel Clark commanded the Third Division, Missouri State Guard. Clark was first promoted to brigadier by Edmund Kirby Smith in April 1864. Later, his name was passed to the senate by Jefferson Davis for confirmation. Clark commanded infantry and later cavalry under Sterling Price. After the war, Clark served in the US House, and later as clerk in the US House, and then practiced law in Washington, D.C.

Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm, class of 1854, Harvard Law School, was a brother-in-law to Abraham Lincoln, who first graduated from West Point, then resigned his commission to study law. He also served in the Kentucky House, and as one of Kentucky’s state lawyers. Helm was offered a job as an army paymaster by Lincoln, but declined, raising Confederate cavalry companies instead. In March 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general, commanding an infantry brigade under John C. Breckinridge. He was seriously wounded when his horse fell on him at Baton Rouge. Helm was back with the army in Mississippi. Helm was mortally wounded fighting with the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga in September 1863.

John S. Marmaduke

Major General John S. Marmaduke, class of 1854, was born in Missouri, attended Yale, then Harvard, then West Point. After commissioning, he served in the west. After Lincoln’s call for troops, Marmaduke resigned from the army, and joined state forces in Missouri, being commissioned colonel, but later resigned and went to Richmond, joining the Confederate army. He served on William J. Hardee’s staff, then was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the 1^st Arkansas Infantry Battalion, then colonel of the 3^rd Confederate Infantry. He fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Tupelo, and Prairie Grove. Marmaduke’s promotion to brigadier general came in November 1862. He participated in most of the battles in Arkansas and Missouri. He even fought a duel with Brigadier General L. Marsh Walker, in which Walker was mortally wounded. Marmaduke was captured late in the war and imprisoned at Fort Warren. After the war, he was an insurance agent, editor, governor of Missouri.

Major General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, class of 1858 and the son of Robert E. Lee, transferred from Harvard to West Point. Lee served in the Utah War against the Mormons but resigned from the US Army prior to the 1861. When the war came, he served in various cavalry commands before being appointed lieutenant colonel of the 9^th Virginia Cavalry. Both his father and JEB Stuart recommend Lee for promotion, which came in November 1862. He fought against Stoneman during Chancellorsville, and at Brady Station, was wounded in the thigh. He was captured by a Federal raiding party while recovering, and was not exchanged until March 1864. Lee was promoted to major general in April 1864. When Wade Hampton was transferred to South Carolina, Lee commanded the cavalry on the south side of the James River. After the war, he served in the state senate and the US House.

All biographical sketches taken from Davis, editor, Confederate Generals.