CSA Bios Goggin, Godwin, Gladden

[Battleline]

Brig. Gen. James M. Goggin (b, 1820, d. 1889) For a brief time near the end of 1864, James Monroe Goggin held the rank of brigadier general. For his longtime service on the staff of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws and Maj. Gen. Joseph Kershaw, and his command of Brig. Gen. James Conner’s brigade during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864, Goggin was elevated to brigadier general Dec. 4, 1864. The commission was revoked, though, and he returned to Kershaw’s staff, where he served until captured at Sayler’s Creek, April 6, 1865. Goggin was born in Bedford County, Virginia, Oct. 23, 1820. He attended the U.S. Military Academy, but did not graduate. He went to Texas and was a lieutenant in the republic’s army before later going to California in 1848. There, he worked on establishing mail routes. The outbreak of the Civil War found Goggin involved in the cotton brokerage business in Memphis, Tennessee. At the start of the war, he returned to his native Virginia and was made major of the 32nd Virginia Infantry. After service on the Virginia peninsula under Maj. Gen. John Magruder, Goggin moved into staff duties in the spring of 1862. His first staff duty was assistant adjutant general of McLaws’ division. While Goggin didn’t have a combat role, he frequently was cited for gallantry and fidelity. He was with the First Corps through all of the eastern campaigns and its trip south to reinforce the Army of Tennessee for the Battle of Chickamauga. When Conner was wounded prior to Cedar Creek, Goggin got his chance to command in a battle which initially went positively for the Confederates, but reversed when Federal Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan rallied his forces. After the war, Goggin moved to Texas. His time in the military there left him with some land. He was residing in Austin, Texas, when he died Oct. 10, 1889. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. Archibald C. Godwin (b. 1831, d. 1864) It would have been very easy for Archibald Campbell Godwin to sit out the Civil War in California. A successful miner and rancher there, Godwin missed being the Democrat nominee for governor in 1860 by just one vote. But Godwin, who was born in Nansemond County, Virginia, in 1831 (exact date unknown), and raised in his grandmother’s home in Portsmouth, Virginia, decided to return to his native state. Offering his services to the Confederate government, Godwin started as provost marshal of Libby Prison in Richmond. Beginning with the rank of major, Godwin’s next task was supervising the construction of the Salisbury, North Carolina, prison. He left this job to form the 57th North Carolina Infantry. A colonel, he led this unit at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Dec. 13, 1862. This regiment, part of Brig. Gen. Evander Law’s brigade, held the far right during the battle and held off a Federal assault in the victory. During the Chancellorsville Campaign, Godwin’s regiment fought again as part of Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke’s brigade near Frederiscksburg. During the subsequent campaign into Pennsylvania, the regiment was part of Hoke’s brigade in the Second Corps. Godwin took charge of this brigade after Col. Isaac Avery was mortally wounded. He led an unsuccessful attack on a Federal battery west of Culp’s Hill July 2, 1863. Godwin was holding on the north side of the Rappahannock River at Rappahannock Station in November of 1863. He was among the 1,500 prisoners yielded when Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick launched a night attack Nov. 7, 1863. Godwin refused to surrender. With the regiment cut off, surrounded and down to about 70 men, Godwin remained defiant and threatened to shoot any man who gave up. He had to be physically restrained to allow the command to surrender. Confederate officials took special steps to exchange for Godwin and he was turned over. Godwin was back in action in the middle of 1864 and was promoted to brigadier general to rank from Aug. 5, 1864. While leading his new brigade at the Third Battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, Godwin was hit by a shell fragment and killed. Godwin was buried in the Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.

Brig. Gen. Adley H. Gladden (b. 1810, d. 1862) Adley Hogan Gladden survived the killing fields at Shiloh, Tennessee, in April of 1862, but only briefly. While leading his mixed brigade of Alabama and Louisiana troops, the South Carolina native was struck in the arm by a shell fragment. After amputation of his wounded arm, Gladden was taken to the headquarters of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard near Corinth, Mississippi. Gladden lingered until April 12, 1862, dying then. He was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. Born in Fairfield District, South Carolina, Oct. 28, 1810, Gladden moved to Columbia, South Carolina at the age of 20. There, he went into business as a cotton broker. When the Seminole Indians rose up, Gladden volunteered for service. After that, he was appointed Columbia’s postmaster by Pres. John Tyler. When the Mexican War came, Gladden again joined the military, serving as a major and later lieutenant colonel of the Palmetto Regiment. In the assault on Belen Gate, Gladden was severely wounded. After the war, Gladden moved to New Orleans. When the Civil War came, Gladden was named lieutenant colonel of the First South Carolina Infantry. He resigned to serve on the Louisiana secession convention. After that, he was named colonel of the First Louisiana Regulars. This unit joined Brig. Gen. Braxton Bragg in Pensacola, Florida, and helped besiege Fort Pickens there. Gladden was promoted to brigadier general to rank from Sept. 30, 1861. His forces were moved to Corinth, where forces were being concentrated for movement against Federal forces in Tennessee. Serving under Bragg, now a major general, Gladden’s brigade consisted of four Alabama regiments, his Louisiana unit and a battery of artillery. His division commander was Brig. Gen. Jones Withers. Soon after entering combat at Shiloh, April 6, 1862, Gladden and his top two subordinates, were wounded. For Gladden, his wound turned out to be mortal.

[Gil R.]

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