| Birth: | Aug. 12, 1829 | | Death: | Sep. 13, 1902 | 
Major General, CSA. He was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, but moved with his family in 1835 to Alabama. He and his older brother, William Henry, also a future Confederate General, were educated by tutors. He entered West Point in 1848, graduating 22nd four years later. Through most of his United States Army career he was assigned to frontier garrisons or recruiting duty, achieving rank of 1st Lieutenant on August 25, 1855. After participating in Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston's Utah Expedition, he taught tactics at West Point until resigning his commission on January 23, 1861. He first joined Alabama troops as a Colonel of Artillery under Brigadier General Braxton Bragg at Pensacola. In March he resigned from state service to accept a captaincy in the Confederate army. He then raised the 10th Alabama, and on June 4th of that year, was commissioned Colonel of the regiment. His insistence on strict discipline made him unpopular with some volunteer soldiers, though it earned him respect from his peers. Early in the war he fought in Virginia, and was severely wounded in the right arm on December 20th at Dranesville. Advanced to Brigadier General on March 10, 1862, he was ordered to Mobile, Alabama, and given charge of the District of the Gulf on July 2nd. On October 27th he was promoted to Major General. At the close of 1862 he reported to Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he held divisional command until the city and his command was surrendered on July 4, 1863. He was exchanged on July 13th and took leave to spend time with his family. He then oversaw the parole and exchange of troops in Mississippi from November 1863 to July 1864. He then commanded a division under General E. Kirby Smith in Louisiana through 1864. By right of seniority he superseded Major General John G. Walker as commander of the District of Texas in March 1865. On June 2nd General Smith surrendered and he was paroled on June 20th at Galveston, Texas. After the war, he operated a small military academy in Jacksonville, Alabama, and worked as a surveyor and civil engineer. (bio by: Ugaalltheway)
Family links:
Spouse:
Septa Sexta Middleton Rutledge Forney (1836 - 1920)*
*Calculated relationship
Search Amazon for John Forney | | | Burial:
City Cemetery
Jacksonville
Calhoun County
Alabama, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Mar 13, 2000
Find A Grave Memorial# 8848 |
|
|
|
Do you have a photo to add? Click here |
(3.7 after 19 votes)
