This is a summary of General Officers in service of the Confederate States of America who died during the war. Not all died on the battlefield. Some died later of wounds and others died of ill health or accidents.

The listing is arranged according to the known date of death. After the name of the general is the State of his commission, not necessarily the state of his birth. KIA indicates that he was killed in action during the battle. WIA indicates that he was wounded during a battle and later died of the wounds suffered. Sometimes the General would linger for months but often they would die within days. POW indicates that the general was a POW either at the time of his death or at a later date. Many Generals died later of ill heath which in some cases were a result of being a POW even though they may have been exchanged.

The Deadliest Year was 1864 with 36 Generals dying. The Deadliest Calendar Month was May. Sixteen Generals died during that month. The Breakdown by month is:

January = 2
February = 3
March = 3
April = 11
May = 16
June = 8
July = 14
August = 5
September = 12
October = 8
November = 7
December = 7

The Deadliest Specific Month was May 1864. Eight Generals died during that month. Other significant months (five or more) were July 1863 = 7; May 1863 = 5.

The state which had the most Generals killed was Virginia. Some Generals were not given a state. Other Generals were born in one state but received their General’s rank as a citizen of another state. The other States and the Generals killed from them are as follows:

Virginia = 16
Georgia = 12
South Carolina = 10
Texas = 8
North Carolina = 8
Tennessee = 8
Louisiana = 7
Mississippi = 6
Alabama = 6
Missouri = 4
Kentucky = 3
Maryland = 3
Florida = 1
Arkansas = 1
Unknown = 3

General Anecdotes

During the course of my research I encountered a number of interesting facts about various Generals. Here are a few of the situations of note.

When BG Montgomery D. Corse was still the Colonel of the 17th Virginia Infantry, he led a depleted regiment of 56 men into the battle of Antietam. At the end of the battle only SEVEN men survived including Col Corse.

BG J.R. Cooke was wounded seven times during the war. He was regarded as the best brigadier by both his superiors and later researchers.

LtG R Ewell lost a leg at Groveton on August 29, 1862. During the battle of Shiloh BG D.W. Adams lost an eye. J.B. Hood lost a leg in battle. BG F.R.T. Nichols lost his left arm in one battle and left foot in a later battle. There are other Generals who lost an arm or leg during a battle.

At Franklin in 1864 in addition to the Generals well known for dying during the battle, MG Brown, BG T.M Scott, BG W.A. Quales, A.M. Manigault, G.W. Gordon and BG Cockrell were also WIA during the battle along with BG C.W. Sears who also lost a leg. BG H.R. Jackson was captured during the battle.

MG Joseph Wheeler was WIA three times, had sixteen horses killed in action and had thirty-six staff officers shot next to him.

BG C.A. Evan was WIA on five occasions. BG William H Young was WIA six times. BG William Cox was WIA eleven times during the war. BG William R Terry was WIA seven times. BG J.B. Palmer was WIA five times and three times in one battle at Mufreesboro. BG J.J. Finley was WIA three times within nine months.

Rose From Private to General

The following Generals all enlisted a privates and were promoted through the ranks to the rank of Brigadier General: William McComb, J. H. Sharp, W.H.F. Payne, W.F. Perry, L.E. Polk, W.P. Roberts, William MacRae and L.S. Ross.

Battle Fatalities by Time

From the accounts of battles and reports on various officers, it is not surprising that the exhibition of bravery was the gateway to promotion. For example, One General entered a battle and told his staff that he would leave the battlefield either a Major General or dead. He was killed during the battle. Records are full of such examples of leading by example. Below is a composite of examples. I hope that it is accurate but I was unable to obtain some specific dates or may have overlooked an incident or two during the research.

Prior to being promoted to Brigadier General, 71 future Generals had been WIA at least once and several suffered multiple wounds. Within the first month of being promoted to BG, 28 Generals were WIA or KIA. Including those of the first month, within the first three months of promotion 54 Generals had become casualties during a battle. A further 22 Generals had been shot between four and six months of being promoted in rank. Within the first year of being promoted to Brigadier General or further promoted to Major General a total 106 Generals had become casualties during a battle. Finally after being ‘in rank’ for at least one year without being shot, 50 additional Generals became casualties at some point after the one year mark of being ‘in rank’.

Sources

The easy to research bibliographic sources for the articles include:
‘Armies and Leaders’ by Robert S Lanier, editor.
‘Generals in Blue’ by Ezra J Warner.
‘Generals in Gray’ by Exra J. Warner.
‘Who Was Who in the Civil War’ by John S. Bowman, editor.

Shooting Stars and Falling Stars Generals Who Died in the American Civil War Confederate Army

Introduction
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865