Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Clement Anselm Evans (February 25, 1833 – July 2, 1911) was a senior

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

Confederate States 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 ...

who commanded

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

in the Eastern Theater of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Afterwards, he edited a 12-volume work on Confederate military history, so named, in 1899.

Early life and education

Clement Anselm Evans was born in

Stewart County, Georgia Stewart County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,058. The county seat is Lumpkin. The county was created on December 23, 1830. History The area was inhabi ...

. In 1854 Evans married Mary Allen "Allie" Walton whose marriage brought eight children, three of whom died in infancy. He studied at the Augusta Law School in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, and was admitted to the bar at the age of 18. By the age of 21, he was a county judge, and a state senator at the age of 25. With the election of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in 1860, Evans organized a company of

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

American Civil War

Evans was commissioned as

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the 31st Georgia Infantry on November 19, 1861, and was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

on May 13, 1862, fighting in the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, command ...

Second Manassas The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

, and

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union ...

. He had temporary command of

Alexander Lawton Alexander Robert Lawton (November 4, 1818 – July 2, 1896) was a lawyer, politician, diplomat, and Brigadier General (CSA), brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life Lawton was born in the Be ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

from September until November 1862, seeing additional action at Fredericksburg. During the Gettysburg Campaign and the 1864 fighting at the

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

and Spotsylvania, Evans again commanded the 31st Georgia while

John Brown Gordon John Brown Gordon () was an attorney, a slaveholding plantation owner, general in the Confederate States Army, and politician in the postwar years. By the end of the Civil War, he had become "one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted generals." A ...

commanded the brigade. Evans was promoted to brigadier general in May 1864 (replacing Gordon who ascended to

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

command) and was wounded at

Monocacy Monocacy (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Monnockkeseymay'') may refer to the Monocacy River in Maryland, USA. Monocacy may also refer to: Other streams *Little Monocacy River, a tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland *Monocacy Creek (Lehigh Riv ...

. He commanded Gordon's Division,

Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia The Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia was a military organization within the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during much of the American Civil War. It was officially created and named following the Battle of Sharpsburg in 1862, b ...

, from Petersburg to Appomattox. Evans survived five wounds during the war.

Later life and legacy

After the war ended, he became an influential

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, advancing the “

holiness movement The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emph ...

,” a controversial doctrine that eventually split the denomination. He pastored churches in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

area, some with memberships as large as 1,000, until his retirement in 1892. Three years later, Evans authored the ''Military History of Georgia'', heavily based upon his Civil War memoirs. He then edited and co-wrote the ''

Confederate Military History ''Confederate Military History'' is a 12-volume series of books written and/or edited by former Confederate Brigadier General Clement A. Evans that deals with specific topics related to the military personalities, places, battles, and campaigns in ...

'', a 12-volume compendium, first published in 1899. Finally, he co-authored the four-volume ''Cyclopedia of Georgia''. Regarding the war, Evans said: Evans was very active in establishing and administering fraternal veterans organizations following the war. He helped organize the

Confederate Survivors Association The Confederate Survivors Association was a fraternal organization for American Civil War veterans of the Confederate States Army. It was based in Augusta, Georgia, and remained active well into the 20th Century. The Confederate Survivors Associa ...

(a regional group based in

) in 1878 and served as its first president. He was a founder of the first national Confederate veterans group, the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

, in 1889 and commander of the UCV's Georgia division for 12 years. Evans died in Atlanta on July 2, 1911: his body lay in state in the central rotunda of the capitol building while the state legislature adjourned for a day to attend his funeral. He was buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery, just a few feet away from the grave of John Gordon.

Evans County, Georgia Evans County is a county in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,774. The county seat is Claxton. A bill creating the county was passed in the Georgia General Assembly on August 11 ...

(established November 3, 1914) is named after him.

References

External links

*
Clement A. Evans
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Clement A. 1833 births 1911 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers 19th-century Methodist ministers 20th-century Methodist ministers American book editors American Methodist clergy American people of Welsh descent Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) Confederate States Army brigadier generals Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Historians of the American Civil War People from Augusta, Georgia People from Stewart County, Georgia People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War United Confederate Veterans Writers from Atlanta 20th-century American clergy 19th-century American clergy

Early life and education

American Civil War

Later life and legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links