| Birth: | unknown | | Death: | Jun. 7, 1862
New Orleans
Orleans Parish
Louisiana, USA | 
National forces occupied the largest city of the Confederacy in April 1862. Soon after Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler took command of New Orleans, he announced that no activity or gesture in support of secession would be tolerated. Professional gambler William Mumford decided to take a chance by violating the edict. At the U.S. Mint, he chopped a staff in two in order to get the hated flag out of his sight. He then dragged the flag through the streets. True to his warning, Butler promptly dragged Mumford before a military tribunal, whose members found him guilty of treason. Hanged at the site of his "heinous crime", Mumford is often listed as the only man to be tried, convicted, and executed for treason in the United States since 1812. Persons who challenge that special niche for the flag-hater often forget that John Brown of Harpers Ferry was convicted of treason-not against the United States, but against the state of Virginia. NOTE: Naval Officer David Glasgot Farragut grew up in a southern background but was pro-union. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles decided that despite his southern background, Farragut was loyal to the Union. Farragut captured New Orleans barely a year after Fort Sumter fell. This victory made him a Rear Admiral. At Mobile Bay in August 1864, Union Rear Adm. Farragut gained a special kind of immortality. Knowing his ship could have a hole blown in it at any second,he reputely cried to his men: "Damn the topedoes! Full speed ahead!" His capture of Mobile Bay caused the man whose loyalty to the Union was once questioned to become the nation's first full admiral. (bio by: Mr. Denardo)
Search Amazon for William Mumford | | | Burial:
Forest Hill Cemetery
Kansas City
Jackson County
Missouri, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: May 09, 2002
Find A Grave Memorial# 6405348 |
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