Richard Waterhouse (January 12, 1832 – March 20, 1876) was an

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Waterhouse was born in

Rhea County, Tennessee Rhea County (pronounced ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,870. Its county seat is Dayton. Rhea County comprises the Dayton, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inclu ...

. As a teenager, he ran away from home to fight in 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 ...

. After he returned, he and his parents moved to San Augustine, Texas in 1849. There he engaged in the mercantile business until the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Civil War service

During the Civil War, he helped to raise the

19th Texas Infantry Regiment The 19th Texas Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Texas that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The regiment began organizing in February 1862 and elected its officers in May 1862. It spent it ...

in and around Jefferson and was elected colonel of the unit on May 13, 1862. He served under

Thomas C. Hindman Thomas Carmichael Hindman Jr. (January 28, 1828 – September 28, 1868) was an American lawyer, politician, and a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, he later moved to Miss ...

and

Theophilus H. Holmes Theophilus Hunter Holmes (November 13, 1804 – June 21, 1880) was an American soldier who served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army and commanded infantry in the Eastern and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and under Richard Taylor in

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 ...

. At

Milliken's Bend The Battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on June 7, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army had placed the strategic Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Mississipp ...

, Louisiana, on August 18, 1862, he won high commendations from

Henry Eustace McCulloch Henry Eustace McCulloch (December 6, 1816 – March 12, 1895) was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War. Early life McCulloch was born i ...

for leading a determined charge against Federal troops within artillery range of Union gunboats. McCulloch reported, "not only by a gallant and desperate charge over the levee" but by driving the enemy "to the very brink of the river and within short and direct range of the gunboats of the enemy." After transfer to William R. Scurry's brigade, he fought at

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

and Pleasant Hill during the Red River Campaign in spring 1864. General

E. Kirby Smith Four-star rank, General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Lo ...

, who was commanding the

Trans-Mississippi Department The Trans-Mississippi Department was a geographical subdivision of the Confederate States Army comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indian Territory; i.e. all of the Confederacy west of the Mississ ...

, was impressed with Waterhouse and he appointed Waterhouse Brigadier General to rank from April 30, 1864. The promotion was not confirmed by Confederate President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

until March 17, 1865 and by the Confederate Senate until the 18th, the last day the legislators were in session before the government collapsed.

Postbellum

After the war, Waterhouse lived in San Antonio and in Jefferson, Texas, where he speculated in land. He fell down a flight of stairs in a Waco hotel on March 18, 1876. This resulted in a severe case of pneumonia that resulted in his death only two days later on March 20. He is buried in Jefferson, Texas.

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. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, Richard 1832 births 1876 deaths Confederate States Army generals American military personnel of the Mexican–American War People from Rhea County, Tennessee People from Jefferson, Texas Military personnel from San Antonio

Early life

Civil War service

Postbellum

See also

Notes

References