West Point, New York, United States
Entering United States Military Academy on July 1, 1833, John graduated four years later, twenty-seventh in a class of fifty.
West Point, New York, United States
Entering United States Military Academy on July 1, 1833, John graduated four years later, twenty-seventh in a class of fifty.
John Clifford Pemberton was born on August 10, 1814, in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the second son of John and Rebecca Clifford Pemberton. He was of Quaker ancestry, great-grandson of Israel Pemberton, and a descendant of Ralph Pemberton, of Wigan, Lancashire, who came with his son Phineas to Pennsylvania in 1682.
John received his early education in the schools of his native city and was privately tutored in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Entering United States Military Academy on July 1, 1833, he graduated four years later, twenty-seventh in a class of fifty.
As the second lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment, John Clifford Pemberton fought in the Florida Indian Wars from 1837 to 1839, and from 1840 to 1842 served on the Canadian border. On March 19, 1842, he was promoted to the first lieutenant. In the War with Mexico, as aide-de-camp of General William J. Worth, Pemberton participated in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Vera Cruz, Monterey, Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. For bravery throughout these actions, he was brevetted captain, September 23, 1846, and major, September 8, 1847.
John Pemberton received his regular captaincy on September 16, 1850. In 1858, under General Albert Sidney Johnston, he took part in the operations against the Mormons in Utah, while the following three years he was occupied with Indian affairs in the northwest. When the Civil War threatened, he was ordered with troops at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, to Washington. Arrived there, he resigned his commission in the United States Army on April 24, 1861. Gen. Winfield Scott tried to persuade him to accept a commission as a colonel in the Federal army, but he refused the offer and proceeded to Richmond. There he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, April 28, 1861, and assigned the duty of organizing the cavalry and artillery of Virginia.
On May 8, 1861, Pemberton was named colonel, Provisional Army of Virginia, on June 15, major, corps of artillery, Confederate States Army, on June 17, brigadier-general, Provisional Army, Confederate States, and on February 13, 1862, major-general, Provisional Army, commanding the department which included South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. He early counseled the abandonment of Fort Sumter as having no protective value for the city of Charleston and built Fort Wagner and Battery "B," which protected the city even after Union fire had leveled Sumter. Many in the South could not forget that Pemberton was a Northerner, and the Confederate secretary of war was even petitioned to remove him from command. There is no question, however, of his complete loyalty to the Southern cause, or that he had the full confidence of his superiors.
On October 13, 1862, he was promoted lieutenant-general and given command of the department embracing Mississippi, Tennessee, and eastern Louisiana. He thus became responsible for the defense of the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg. Jefferson Davis instructed him to hold Vicksburg at all costs; General Joseph E. Johnston advised cutting loose from Vicksburg and avoiding a general engagement until sufficient concentration could be effected against Grant. Hampered by these conflicting orders and opposed by the ablest soldier of the North, Pemberton had to work out his own salvation. Besieged by land and water, heavily outnumbered, and short of ammunition, he conducted a stubborn defense. Finally, the garrison was reduced to eating rats, cane shoots, and bark; men were so exhausted that they could scarcely stand in the firing trenches, and those still capable of resisting were all too few to man the defenses.
On the night of July 2, 1863, when the Federals had closed into assaulting distance, Pemberton knew that defeat was inevitable. On July 4, he accepted the "unconditional surrender" terms imposed by General Grant. When the exchange of prisoners had been effected, Pemberton resigned his commission as lieutenant-general and served until the end of the war as an inspector of ordnance with the rank of colonel. Through the foresight and generosity of his mother, he was provided a farm near Warrenton, Virginia, whither he retired after the war. In 1876 he moved to Philadelphia, and there lived with his brothers and sisters.
On January 18, 1848, John married Martha Thompson, daughter of William Henry Thompson of Norfolk, Virginia. They had five children.
1783-1847
1782-1869
1813-1885
1816-1884
1820-1883
1826-1911
1827-1858
1831-1900
1835-1897
1827-1907
1850-1940
1853-1934
1856-1923
