Frank Crawford Armstrong was born on November 22, 1835, in the Choctaw Agency, Indian Territory, United States. He was the son of Francis Wells and Anne Millard Armstrong. When Armstrong was a boy, his father died and his mother married second time. His stepfather was General Persifer Smith, a hero of the Mexican War.
Armstrong was educated at Holy Cross Academy and College in Massachusetts, and he entered the cavalry as a second lieutenant in 1855.
Frank Crawford Armstrong accompanied Albert Sidney Johnston on the Utah expedition in 1858-1859 and was promoted to captain in June 1861.
He fought on the Union side at First Manassas but resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army in August 1861. He accompanied Colonel James Z. McIntosh to the Indian Territory and fought with Ben McCulloch at Wilson's Creek, Arkansas, in August 1861.
In March 1862, he served as assistant adjutant-general at the battle of Elkhorn, and in June of that year. General Sterling Price appointed him acting brigadier general in command of all cavalry in the west. Armstrong achieved recognition for his attack on Courtland, Alabama, and he was the hero of the battle of Britton’s Lane in western Tennessee in July 1862.
After participating in the battles of Iuka and Corinth, Mississippi, he was promoted to brigadier general on January 30, 1863, after which he was victorious at Spring Hill in western Tennessee. His cavalry division participated in the evacuation of Chattanooga and fought at Chicamauga. During the winter of 1863-1864, he was with Longstreet and in the spring of 1864, he accompanied General Leonidas Polk’s army during the Atlanta campaign from Resaca to Jonesboro.
He fought in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in November 1864, accompanied Hood in the campaign against Murfreesboro, and engaged the enemy in a heroic rearguard action during the retreat from Nashville in December 1864. His last battle was in Selma, Alabama, where he surrendered.
After the war, he worked for the Overland Mail Service in Texas fora time and was unsuccessful in private business. Armstrong spent most of his postwar career in government service on the western frontier. He was an assistant commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1893 to 1895.
Frank Crawford Armstrong took part in First Manassas in the Union army. He was elected Colonel of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry and soon given command of the cavalry forces under General Sterling Price. For his actions, Frank was promoted to Brigadier General.
He is also known for being the only Confederate general to fight on both sides during the Civil War.
Armstrong was married twice, in 1863 to Mary Polk Walker and in 1875 to Charlotte Combs.
1783-1835
1808–1889
1843-1872
1847-1910
1864-1937
