Leroy Augustus Stafford Sr. (April 13, 1822 – May 8, 1864), was a

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 ...

in the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during 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 ...

Early life

Leroy A. Stafford was born on Greenwood Plantation near Cheneyville, south of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

in south

Rapides Parish Rapides Parish () (french: Paroisse des Rapides) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,613. The parish seat is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. ''Rapides ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He was the eldest son of wealthy land owner Leroy Stafford and his second wife, Elizabeth Calliham. His father died when he was thirteen years old. Stafford was educated at Bardstown,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and attended college in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In 1843, at the age of twenty-one, he returned to Louisiana and married Sarah Catherine Wright, the daughter of Dr. Jesse D. Wright and the former Sarah R. Grimball. The Staffords had ten children—George Waters, Sally, Elizabeth Eloise, David Theophilus, Cornelia Knox, Julia Laura, Jesse Wright, Rosalind, Leroy Augustus Jr., and Kate Keary.

Military life

Stafford operated

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

in Rapides Parish for a couple of decades, and served as the sheriff of the parish in 1846–47 before leaving for the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. He enlisted in the "Rapides Volunteers" (Company E, 3d Louisiana Infantry Regiment) and later served in Captain Ben McCullough's Texas Rangers. With Louisiana's

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

in 1861, Stafford formed the "Stafford Guards", a

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 ...

unit that was soon mustered into Confederate service as Company B, 9th Louisiana Infantry with Stafford as its first captain. Stafford rose through the ranks and became the

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

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 o ...

in early 1862 when Richard Taylor was promoted. With the death of Brig. Gen. William E. Starke early in the Battle of Antietam, Stafford was elevated temporarily to command of 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. B ...

. He suffered a minor wound in his foot during the battle, but soon recovered. In the reorganization of the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

in the fall of 1862, Stafford and the 9th Louisiana regiment were reassigned to

Harry T. Hays Harry Thompson Hays (April 14, 1820 – August 21, 1876) was an American Army officer serving in the Mexican–American War and a general who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Known as the "Louisiana Tigers," his brigad ...

brigade, the

Louisiana Tigers Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the State of Louisiana in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a b ...

. Stafford served at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863. In October of that year, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of the 2nd Louisiana Brigade.

Death and legacy

Stafford was mortally wounded on May 5, 1864, at the Battle of the Wilderness in northern Virginia. A

Minié ball The Minié ball or Minie ball, is a type of hollow-based bullet designed by Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the French Minié rifle, for muzzle-loading rifled muskets. It was invented in 1847 and came to prominence in the Crimean War and ...

pierced his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

. He was carried to the Confederate capital city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, where he died three days later in the Spottswood Hotel. He was one of three Confederate generals killed in the Wilderness, along with John M. Jones and Micah Jenkins. Stafford left behind a wife and nine of their ten children. He was buried with military honors in Richmond in Hollywood Cemetery. Among the attendees at his funeral was Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In 1886, his remains were exhumed and reinterred on his Greenwood Plantation in Rapides Parish.

Honors

The Gen. Leroy A. Stafford Camp #358 of the

Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohis ...

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

, is named in honor of the fallen general. The Gen. Leroy Stafford Camp #3 of the United Confederate Veterans in Shreveport, Louisiana, was named for General Stafford as well. It was formed in 1891 and existed until the last member died in 1944. In its 53 years of existence, over 250 Confederate Veterans were members. Stafford's son, David Theophilus Stafford, was later the sheriff of Rapides Parish, having served for four terms from 1888 to 1904. Many of Stafford's descendants were named after him.

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. .
Biography
* ''Leroy Augustus Stafford: His Forebears and Descendents''

External links

Col Leroy Augustus Stafford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Leroy Augustus 1822 births 1864 deaths Confederate States Army brigadier generals People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War Louisiana Tigers Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) Louisiana sheriffs American planters People from Cheneyville, Louisiana