Joseph Brevard Kershaw (January 5, 1822 – April 13, 1894) was an American planter and slaveholder from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He was also a lawyer, judge, and 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

Kershaw was born on January 5, 1822, at his family's plantation in Camden,

Kershaw County, South Carolina Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest community is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, F ...

. Admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1843, he married Lucretia Ann Douglas in Camden in 1844, and was a member of the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...

in 1852–1856. Kershaw saw battle during 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, ...

, but fell deathly ill and was given leave to return home.

Civil War

At the start of the Civil War, Kershaw commanded the

2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment The 2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment, also known as 2nd Palmetto Regiment, was a Confederate States Army regiment in the American Civil War. History Formation The 2nd Palmetto Regiment was formed for state service on April 9, 1861 under the ...

. He was present at Morris Island in April 1861 during the

Battle of Fort Sumter The Battle of Fort Sumter (also the Attack on Fort Sumter or the Fall of Fort Sumter) (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the ...

, and then in July 1861 at the

First Battle of Manassas The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by Milledge Bonham Milledge Luke Bonham (December 25, 1813August 27, 1890) was an American politician and Congressman. He was later the 70th Governor of South Carolina from 1862 until 1864, and a Confederate General during the American Civil War. Early life and ...

's brigade. During the battle, Kershaw's regiment along with the 8th South Carolina was detached from Bonham and sent to help drive back the Union assault on Henry House Hill. Afterwards, Kershaw gained the ire of Confederate general

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 ...

by failing to file a proper report of the battle and instead writing a lengthy article in a Charleston newspaper which gave the impression that he and the 2nd South Carolina singlehandedly defeated the Union army. Beauregard, who had difficult professional relationships with many military and political officials, called him "that militia idiot". The disparaging remarks of Beauregard toward him and other officers were duly noted. Due in part to his military success, Kershaw was transferred to the West in the fall. In December, when Milledge Bonham resigned his commission to take a seat in the Confederate Congress, Kershaw was honored with command of Bonham's former brigade. He was commissioned brigadier general on 13 February 1862 and commanded a brigade in

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from ...

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 ...

during the

Peninsula Campaign The Peninsula campaign (also known as the Peninsular campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The oper ...

, at the close of which he continued with Lee and took part in the

Northern Virginia Campaign The Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Confederate ...

and

Maryland Campaign The Maryland campaign (or Antietam campaign) occurred September 4–20, 1862, during the American Civil War. The campaign was Confederate States Army, Confederate General (CSA), General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern United Stat ...

. During the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army, Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major general ( ...

, on December 13, 1862, he commanded his South Carolina Brigade and was stationed behind Ransom's North Carolina Brigade and Cobb's Georgia brigade on Marye's Heights, and helped repulse several attacks made by the Union Army. The following year he was engaged in the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

and then was transferred with Lt. 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 ...

's corps to the

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

, where he took part in the charge that destroyed the Federal right wing at Chickamauga. After the relief of McLaws following the battle of

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Kershaw was given the command of the division and promoted to major general on 2 June 1864. When Longstreet returned to Virginia, he commanded a division in the battles of the

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

Spotsylvania Court House The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 18 ...

, and

Cold Harbor The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought during the American Civil War near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Union Army, Union Lieuten ...

, and was engaged in the Shenandoah campaign of 1864 against Maj. Gen.

Philip Sheridan Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with General-i ...

. After the evacuation of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, his troops formed part of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's corps, which was captured on 6 April 1865 at the

Battle of Sayler's Creek A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

Postbellum career

At the close of the war he returned to South Carolina and in 1865 was chosen president of the State Senate. He was judge of the Circuit Court from 1877 to 1893, when he stepped down for health reasons. In 1894, he was appointed

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Camden, an office that he held until his death in the same year. Joseph B. Kershaw was also Grand Master of the Freemasons of South Carolina. He died in Camden and is buried there in the Quaker Cemetery.

Ancestry

Children

Joseph Brevard Kershaw (5 January 1822 Camden – 13 April 1894 Camden) married in 1844 in Camden to Lucretia Ann Douglas (27 August 1825 Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina, USA - 28 April 1902 Camden), youngest of the four surviving daughters of the esteemed James Kennedy Douglas (23 October 1780 Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland - 13 November 1860 Camden) by his wife Mary Lucretia Martin (21 February 1785 - 29 March 1852 Camden). James, son of William Douglas and his wife Sarah Kennedy, had emigrated in 1800/1804 to join John Kirkpatrick, an established merchant in Charleston, South Carolina.Kirkland & Kennedy, Historic Camden Joseph and Lucretia's children included: *Rev. John Kershaw (3 January 1847 Camden - 6 April 1921 North Augusta, Aiken County, South Carolina), married Susan B. DeSaussure (8 June 1847 Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina - 26 December 1924 Charleston) and had issue; his daughter Harriette Kershaw Leiding was a noted Charleston writer. *Mary Martin Kershaw (23 April 1848 Camden - 14 April 1934 Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina), married Charles John Shannon (1846–1933) and had issue; *Harriet DuBose Kershaw (14 October 1850 Camden - 5 May 1930 Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina), married Thomas Whitmill Lang (10 January 1848 Dallas County, Alabama - 9 September 1915 Columbia) without surviving issue; *Charlotte Douglas Kershaw (17 April 1851 Camden - 8 March 1923 Camden), never married, no issue; *Josephine Serre Kershaw (8 April 1867 Camden - 10 September 1938 Pawleys Island, Georgetown County, South Carolina), married William Bratton deLoach (18 May 1866 - 5 February 1929) and had issue.

Notes

References

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Moore, F., eds. (1905). "Kershaw, Joseph Brevard (1822–1894)", Volume 11, p. 462. ''

New International Encyclopedia ''The New International Encyclopedia'' was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead & Co. It descended from the ''International Cyclopaedia'' (1884) and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926. History ''The New Internatio ...

'' (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. * 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. .

External links

Archives and Museum - Camden, S.C.
*
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Joseph Brevard Kershaw papers, 1852-1894Image: Joseph Brevard Kershaw Portrait at the

South Carolina State House The South Carolina State House is the building housing the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina, which includes the South Carolina General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Located in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kershaw, Joseph B. Confederate States Army major generals People from Camden, South Carolina South Carolina postmasters 1822 births 1894 deaths People of South Carolina in the American Civil War South Carolina state senators American military personnel of the Mexican–American War 19th-century American planters American slave owners 19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly