Asbury Coward (September 19, 1835 - April 28, 1925) was a school leader,

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

officer,

South Carolina Superintendent of Education The South Carolina superintendent of education is the executive of the South Carolina Department of Education. The superintendent is responsible for overseeing the 1.5 billion dollar budget of the department and ensure that schools and schools dis ...

, and Superintendent of

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

. He was born on the Quenby Plantation outside

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, and graduated from South Carolina Military Academy (now

) in 1854. He and classmate Micah Jenkins established the King's Mountain Military School in Yorkville in 1855. It closed at the start of the American Civil War. It reopened after the war but the boarding school struggled with the challenging times and closed. During the Civil War, Coward was commissioned as a colonel and served under General

James Longstreet James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse". He served under Lee as a corps ...

in Tennessee and Georgia. He served as president of the

Kings Mountain, North Carolina Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...

, centennial committee. In 1890, Coward was named Superintendent of The Citadel. He remained in that office until 1908 and died in 1925. He is buried at Rosehill Cemetery in York County. The

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

erected a monument honoring him at

Kings Mountain National Military Park Kings Mountain National Military Park is a National Military Park near Blacksburg, South Carolina, along the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The park commemorates the Battle of Kings Mountain, a pivotal and significant victory by American Pa ...

in Blacksburg. The Citadel has a collection of his letters.

Winthrop University Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, ...

has a small collection of his letters. His memoir was published in 1968.

References

External links

Find a Grave entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coward, Asbury 1835 births 1925 deaths The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina alumni The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina faculty Confederate States Army officers People from Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina Superintendent of Education