U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator, Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. A native of Woodford County, Kentucky, he graduated from Yale College in 1853 and completed his law studies at the Law Department of the University of Louisiana in 1855. He worked on his father's large sugar plantation in Louisiana until he became an aide to Governor Thomas O. Moore when Louisiana seceded from the Union. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and became a Captain with the 1st Louisiana Artillery. A few months later, he was commissioned as a Colonel and assigned to the 13th Louisiana Infantry, and led the regiment at the Battle of Shiloh. He served in the Kentucky Campaign and at the Battle of Chickamauga and was promoted to Brigadier General on January 11, 1864. He commanded a brigade during the Atlanta Campaign before he was assigned to the defense of Mobile, Alabama. After the war, he was admitted to the bar and practiced as an attorney in New Orleans. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1872. Elected as a Democrat to represent Louisiana's 1st District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1875 to 1883. He was reelected three times and did not seek renomination for a fifth term. He chose instead to run for the office of the United States Senate and was elected in 1882, reelected in 1889, and served until his death in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1892. He was also a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and the first president of the board of administrators at Tulane University (his alma mater, formally the University of Louisiana). Gibson Hall, the Tulane University Administration Building, is named for him.
U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator, Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. A native of Woodford County, Kentucky, he graduated from Yale College in 1853 and completed his law studies at the Law Department of the University of Louisiana in 1855. He worked on his father's large sugar plantation in Louisiana until he became an aide to Governor Thomas O. Moore when Louisiana seceded from the Union. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and became a Captain with the 1st Louisiana Artillery. A few months later, he was commissioned as a Colonel and assigned to the 13th Louisiana Infantry, and led the regiment at the Battle of Shiloh. He served in the Kentucky Campaign and at the Battle of Chickamauga and was promoted to Brigadier General on January 11, 1864. He commanded a brigade during the Atlanta Campaign before he was assigned to the defense of Mobile, Alabama. After the war, he was admitted to the bar and practiced as an attorney in New Orleans. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1872. Elected as a Democrat to represent Louisiana's 1st District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1875 to 1883. He was reelected three times and did not seek renomination for a fifth term. He chose instead to run for the office of the United States Senate and was elected in 1882, reelected in 1889, and served until his death in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1892. He was also a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and the first president of the board of administrators at Tulane University (his alma mater, formally the University of Louisiana). Gibson Hall, the Tulane University Administration Building, is named for him.
Bio by: K Guy
Gravesite Details
See cenotaph in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, LA.
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