Reuben Walker Carswell (September 29, 1837 – January 11, 1889) was a lawyer, member of the Georgia State Legislature, Confederate States Army

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and brigadier general in the

Georgia militia The Georgia Militia existed from 1733 to 1879. It was originally planned by General James Oglethorpe prior to the founding of the Province of Georgia, the British colony that would become the U.S. state of Georgia. One reason for the founding ...

during the American Civil War, and, after the war, a lawyer and judge.

Early life

Reuben W. Carswell was born at "Middle Ground" Plantation near Louisville, Georgia on September 29, 1837.Allardice, Bruce S.'' More Generals in Gray.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. (pbk.). p. 52.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 166.Massey, R. J. ''Reuben W. Walker''. In Northen, ed., William J. ''Men of Mark in Georgia''. Volume 3. Atlanta: A.B. Caldwell, 1907-1912. . p. 417. His parents were Edward Rhodes Carswell, a State Representative in the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

, and Mary Celesta (Walker) Carswell. Carswell was educated in his home county, Jefferson County, Georgia and at Emory University from which he graduated in the class of 1856. He then studied law under future Confederate Major General (temporary)

Ambrose R. Wright Ambrose Ransom "Rans" Wright (April 26, 1826 – December 21, 1872) was a lawyer, Georgia politician, and Confederate general in the American Civil War. Early life Wright, known by the nickname "Rans", was born in Louisville, Georgia. He rea ...

. After being admitted to the bar, he practiced law with his cousin, William Carswell. Reuben Carswell served as a

Georgia state representative The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

in 1858–1860. In 1861, Carswell married a daughter of James Walker. They had four children: Edgar R., Reuben W., Margaret and Isabel.

American Civil War service

Reuben W. Carswell started his Civil War service on June 14, 1861 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 20th Georgia Infantry Regiment. He was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 48th Georgia Infantry Regiment in March 1862. On March 22, 1862, Carswell was promoted to

of the 48th Georgia Infantry. The 48th Georgia Infantry Regiment was in a brigade commanded by then Brigadier General Ambrose Wright, Carswell's mentor as a lawyer. Carswell performed with distinction during the Seven Days Battles and at the Battle of Chancellorsville. After being elected a state representative to the Georgia State Legislature in 1863, Carswell returned to Georgia to serve in that office. As the Union Army under Major General William T. Sherman began to advance in Georgia in May 1864, Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown appointed Carswell a brigadier general in the Georgia militia. Carswell led the 1st Brigade of the Georgia militia in opposition to the Union Army under Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea. The brigade fought at the Battle of Ruff's Station, now Smyrna, Georgia on July 4, 1864, the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864 and during the subsequent siege of Atlanta until the fall of the city on September 2, 1864. Governor Brown furloughed the militia for 30 days so the men could harvest their crops. The men returned in October and skirmished with Sherman's men along their march to Savannah, Georgia. Carswell's brigade set out early from

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

and missed the

Battle of Griswoldville The Battle of Griswoldville was the first battle of Sherman's March to the Sea, fought November 22, 1864, during the American Civil War. A Union Army brigade under Brig. Gen. Charles C. Walcutt fought three brigades of Georgia militia under Bri ...

, in which Sherman's forces decimated the other brigades of Georgia militia that attacked a Union brigade at Griswoldville, near Macon. Carswell commanded his brigade at Savannah in December 1864 until the city fell to the Union force. As Sherman took his men to South Carolina, the Georgia militia remained in its home state. Carswell surrendered to the Union Army on May 20, 1865, at Augusta, Georgia. He was paroled as a brigadier general of Georgia militia.

Later life

Carswell returned to his law practice after the war. He was elected judge of the Superior Courts of the Middle Circuit of Georgia in 1880.Allardice, 1995, p. 52–53. Ill health forced him to resign six years later.Allaridce, 1995, p. 53. Reuben Walker Carswell died at his home in Louisville, Georgia, on January 11, 1889. He is buried at New Cemetery in Louisville, Georgia. On July 13, 1933, Mrs. Belle Stokes Carswell Hudson applied for a Confederate widow's pension from the State of Florida as the widow of Reuben Walker Carswell, having married him in February 1881.Hudson pension application
Retrieved August 13, 2012. The application also states that the applicant remarried in January 1889, after Carswell died, although in the same month that he died, and that she had lived in Florida since 1923.

Notes

References

Adjutant General June 13, 1933 Letter on Carswell service
Retrieved August 13, 2012. * Allardice, Bruce S. ''More Generals in Gray''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. .

Retrieved August 13, 2012. * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. .
Hudson, second Carswell wife, pension application
Retrieved August 13, 2012. * Massey, R. J. ''Reuben W. Carswell''. In Northen, ed., William J.
Men of Mark in Georgia
'. Volume 3. Atlanta: A.B. Caldwell, 1907-1912. .

External links