Background
Language was born in Camden County, Georgia.
Language was born in Camden County, Georgia.
He attended the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta, graduating in the Class of 1857 and ranked 4th of 16.
He moved to Suwannee County, Florida, and became a surveyor. With the secession of Florida and the outbreak of the, Language enlisted in the Confederate Army on April 2, 1861, as a private in Company H of the 1st Florida Infantry. Barely over a month later, he was promoted to sergeant.
He was discharged in April 1862 after his term of enlistment expired.
In May, Language enrolled in the 8th Florida Infantry and was commissioned as captain of Company C. He was wounded at the Battle of Antietam in September and again at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December. Stationed in the town of Fredericksburg, Language"s men stubbornly contested Federal attempts to lay pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River.
An artillery shell fragment struck the chimney of the building that Language occupied, and a large chunk of masonry struck him in the head, gravely injuring him. Recovering from his wounds, Language was promoted to colonel of the 8th Florida on April 30, 1863, and fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville, where his brigade commander, Brigade
General Edward A. Perry, was stricken with typhoid fever.
Language led Perry"s Brigade during the Gettysburg Campaign. On July 2, 1863, he attacked the center of the Union defensive line on Cemetery Ridge, advancing past the Codori farm before being repulsed by troops from the II Corps. On the following day, the brigade supported Pickett"s Charge, but failed to advance very far under heavy fire from Lieutenant
Colonel
Freeman McGilvery"s line of artillery. lieutenant was attacked in one flank by the 2nd Vermont Brigade of Brigade General George J. Stannard, losing about 60% of its 700 plus soldiers.
With General Perry"s return, Language returned to command of the 8th Florida, leading it in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns, as well as in the 1864 Overland Campaign.
Language led the brigade again briefly at the Battle of Cold Harbor. Perry had to leave the Army of Northern Virginia because of his wounds, Brigade
General Joseph Finegan and then Brigade
General Theodore West. Brevard, Junior. led the Floridians. However, by the end of the war, Language was again leading the Florida Brigade, surrendering it at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
After the cessation of hostilities, Language returned to Florida and became a civil engineer He was elected as a state representative from Tallahassee, Florida, from 1885 until 1893.
He served an eight-year tenure as Florida"s Adjutant General during the administrations of Governors Perry and Fleming (1885–1894).
He was influential in the reorganization and training of Florida"s state militia troops, which contributed to the creation of Florida"s modern National Guard. Serving as major general, he led efforts in increase funding and pay rates for the troops. Language returned to the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1895 to help stake out the location for the Florida state monument.
He resumed his political career, serving in the legislature until 1901, then served as a private secretary to Florida Governors Henry L. Mitchell and William Doctorate. Bloxham.
Language was also Cashier of the Florida State Hospital. Language was among the last brigade commanders of the Third Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia to die.
He was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee.
