Edmund Meredith Shackelford (September 26, 1786 – March 1, 1857) was an American brigadier general.
Early life
Shackelford was born in
Hancock County, Georgia
Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. The county seat is Sparta. The county was created on December 17, 1793, and named for John Hancock, a Founding Father of the Amer ...
, on September 26, 1786. He was one of ten children of John Shackelford (1736–1800), a soldier in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, and Frances Wade Butler (1736-unknown). He was a member of the large Roger Shackelford family that immigrated to Virginia before 1678.
Edmund Shackelford married Rebecca Power Brodnax in 1814. The Shackelfords and Brodnaxes were pioneers of Georgia and Alabama. The couple had four children.
Shackelford's home in
Autauga County, Alabama
Autauga County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 58,805. Its county seat is Prattville.
Autauga County is part of the Montgomery metropolitan area.
History
Aut ...
, is now known as the community of
Kingston, Alabama
Kingston, also known as Old Kingston, is an unincorporated community in Autauga County, Alabama. Kingston served as the county seat of Autauga County from 1830 to 1868, when it was moved to Prattville. Kingston became a ghost town, until a new c ...
.
Career
Edmund Shackelford was a 2nd lieutenant in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. He served in the Georgia militia from August 23, 1812, through March 6, 1814. He served in Captain William E. Adams' Company of Riflemen in Major William Alexander's Rifle Battalion. On September 19, 1813, he was promoted to Brigade Inspector. In Pickett's History of Alabama on page 559, Shackelford is called a brigadier general. However, his proper rank of lieutenant is reflected in a letter to sisters Ann and Frances, and it is believed the assignation of general is revisionist based upon his later career in the area's Indian conflicts.
Shackelford served under General
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, later 7th President of the United States, at the
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...
in January 1815. He continued serving with Jackson in the Indian wars in what was then America's frontier, now Alabama and Florida, including the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the
Battle of Pensacola.
Shackelford moved to Alabama by 1828, by which time he was a general in the Alabama militia. From 1831 to 1837, he was Sheriff of Autauga County, Alabama. During the 1836 Indian Wars along the Chattahoochee River, he worked with Generals
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
and
Thomas Jesup
Thomas Sidney Jesup (December 16, 1788 – June 10, 1860) was a United States Army officer known as the "Father of the Modern Quartermaster Corps". His 52-year (1808–1860) military career was one of the longest in the history of the United St ...
. Notably, when General Scott was recalled to Washington in 1836 due to controversies over his leadership during the
2nd Seminole War, General Shackelford was in charge until General Jesup arrived later in the year to assume command.
In 1845, the year Andrew Jackson died, Shackelford wrote to him as a result of the continuing political controversies surrounding General Winfield Scott's removal from command. As Scott was soon to become the popular hero of the Mexican War, Shackelford's concerns seem justified:
:"General Andrew Jackson, Hermitage, Near Nashville, Tennessee.
:
:Nashville, Tennessee
:May 30th 1845
:
:General,
:
: You are no doubt aware of the charges made against me for several years
:past of having by a course of intrigue obtained the Command of the Army in the
:Creek War in 1828 and of having in the same way caused the removal of General Scott
:from the command of that army, and also from the direction of affairs in Florida.
: These charges I understand have been recently revived. To put them down
:I have to appeal to you for a statement of facts as you know them to have existed
:at the time, as well in regard to my being placed in Command, as to the removal of
:General Scott after he had the command. I therefore respectfully request you to
:state whether you did not, yourself, designate me for the Command of the Army
:employed against the Creeks without consulting me, and without solicitation on my
:part or that of my friends on my behalf.
: Whether General Scott was removed by your order from the Command of that Army
:as consequence of any influence used or attempted to be used by me, or in consequence
:of his own acts, as admitted in his official reports, and which acts you disapproved,
:and whether I had any agency in his removal from the direction of affairs in Florida.
: I regret, General, this to be compelled to trouble you. With my personal affairs
:in the present state of your health, but there is no other recourse left me for the
:defense of my reputation against the reiterated of my enemies.
: With the highest Consideration
: And regards I am,
: Your Obliged Servant,
: /s/ General SHACKELFORD"
Shackelford died in Leon County, Florida. It is believed he was on one of his plantations there. The body was taken back home by a descendant, and he was buried in Old Town Cemetery, Autauga County, Alabama.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shackelford, Edmund Meredith
1857 deaths
1786 births
American militia generals
American militiamen in the War of 1812
People from Hancock County, Georgia
People from Autauga County, Alabama