David Rumph Jones (April 5, 1825 – January 15, 1863) was a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

general in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Early life

Jones was born in

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Burg'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2020 United Stat ...

. By his marriage to Sarah Taylor, daughter of Brig. Gen.

Joseph Pannell Taylor Joseph Pannell Taylor (May 4, 1796 – June 29, 1864) was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He was the younger brother of Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States. Early life He w ...

, he was an in-law of

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

, the 12th US President, and a cousin of

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

and Richard Taylor. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1846 and served in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

Civil War

Jones was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army on June 17, 1861. He commanded a brigade in Brig. Gen.

P.G.T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was an American military officer known as being the Confederate general who started the American Civil War at the battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is comm ...

's Confederate Army of the Potomac at the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by Confederate States ...

. Jones was sent to the Richmond area afterwards to serve under Maj. Gen John B. Magruder's command, and he was promoted to major general on March 10, 1862. In the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate States Army, Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army ...

, he temporarily led the division when Magruder served as a wing commander. When Magruder departed for the Western Theater in July, Jones got permanent command, leading his troops at

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

and the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam ( ), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgi ...

, in both cases under Maj. Gen.

James Longstreet James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War and was the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Ho ...

. Jones became the highest ranking division commander in the Army of Northern Virginia after Maj. Gen Richard Ewell was wounded at Groveton on August 28. At Antietam, his division held the right flank of the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...

when the Union

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German ...

attacked across the Burnside Bridge. The Confederate Congress had failed to confirm Jones's promotion to major general, so it lapsed a week after Antietam and he reverted to the rank of brigadier general. He was quickly re-appointed as a major general on October 10, but it now meant Jones was junior to several other division commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia, including John Hood and

George Pickett George Edward Pickett (January 16,Military records cited by Eicher, p. 428, and Warner, p. 239, list January 28. The memorial that marks his gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery lists his birthday as January 25. Thclaims to have accessed the baptis ...

. The death of Jones' brother-in-law, Union colonel H.W. Kingsbury, at Antietam, coupled with the strain of campaigning aggravated a longstanding heart condition, led to Jones being unable to command due to his health. He was forced to step down that fall and his division was broken up and its brigades reassigned to McLaws' and Hood's divisions. Jones died in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

the following January and was buried there in Hollywood Cemetery.

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:Jones, David R. Confederate States Army major generals United States Army officers People from Orangeburg, South Carolina People of South Carolina in the American Civil War American military personnel of the Mexican–American War United States Military Academy alumni 1825 births 1863 deaths Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)

Early life

Civil War

See also

References