William Tatum Wofford was an American Civil War Confederate Brigadier General, who fought during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Besides, he was also a statesman, planter and lawyer.
Background
Ethnicity:
William's ancestors came from Cumberland, England, to the United States.
William Tatum Wofford was born on June 28, 1823, near Toccoa, Habersham County, Georgia, United States. He was a son of William Hollingsworth Wofford and Nancy M. (Tatum) Wofford and had two sisters. William's father died shortly after his son's birth, and the boy was reared by his mother, a native of Virginia. William's grandfather was a founder of ironworks and also served as a colonel during the American Revolution.
Education
In 1836, William attended the Gwinnett Manual Labor Institute in Lawrenceville, Georgia. In 1839, he graduated from the educational establishment and enrolled in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, where he studied until 1844.
It was in 1846, that William began practicing law in Cassville. The following year, in 1847, William first experienced a military life - he began serving as a captain of the volunteer cavalry under General Scott. On July 12, 1848, Wofford was mustered out of the volunteer service.
In 1852, with the assistance of John W. Burke, editor of the Athens Banner, William established the Cassville Standard, a Democratic weekly, and served as its editor. In the 1850's, Wofford attained distinction at the bar, developed a prosperous plantation and served as a clerk in the lower house of the Georgia legislature between 1849 and 1853. Later, he was a delegate to the Southern Commercial Convention of 1857 in Knoxville, Tennessee, and to that of 1858 in Montgomery, Alabama. A firm anti-secessionist, Wofford carried his county with him and, as a member of the state convention of 1861, voted against the secession resolution.
After Georgia had withdrawn from the Union (the United States), Wofford loyally offered his services to his state and, in April 1861, was commissioned colonel of the 18th Georgia Volunteer Infantry. After a brief service in North Carolina, he was attached to Hood's brigade and took part in the campaigns around Richmond in 1862. After Hood's promotion, Wofford commanded the brigade in Second Manassas (Bull Run), South Mountain and Sharpsburg, and was commended by John Bell Hood for "gallant conduct" and "conspicuous bravery".
Wofford also served under Brigadier-General Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb and, after Cobb's death in Fredericksburg, was promoted, on January 19, 1863, to the rank of Brigadier-General. He led the brigade in Chancellorsville and rendered valuable service under Longstreet in Gettysburg.
Later, Wofford was sent with James Longstreet to East Tennessee, where he led the unsuccessful assault on Knoxville. He was then attached to Kershaw's division and saw service in the desperate campaigns of 1864 around Richmond and Petersburg, and in the Shenandoah Valley. He was wounded twice during the Battle of Spotsylvania and Battle of the Wilderness. Placed in command of the Department of Northern Georgia, on January 20, 1865, at the request of Governor Brown, William raised some 7,000 troops and defended that region against the turbulent and lawless element, which infested it. On May 2, 1865, he surrendered to General Henry M. Judah in Resaca, Georgia.
When the war was over, Wofford devoted his energy and means to the care of the starving and the economic, industrial and educational rehabilitation of his devastated section of the state. Elected to Congress in 1865, he was refused his seat by the Radical Republicans, but through the aid of Judge Kelly of Pennsylvania obtained much-needed food and supplies for his district. William was instrumental in organizing the Cartersville and Van Wert and the Atlanta and Blue Ridge railroads, served as a trustee of the Cherokee Baptist College in Cassville, as well as the Cassville Female College, and gave land and money, with which to establish the Wofford Academy.
In 1877, Wofford was an influential member of the Georgia Constitutional Convention. He worked effectively for the payment of the state debt, the broadening of the suffrage, the development of an educational program and the maintenance of a state penitentiary instead of the leasing of convicts.
Achievements
Politics
As a politician, William advocated for the repeal of convict leasing and argued for Confederate veterans' benefits and African-American education.
Personality
Gentle, yet firm in all his convictions, William was beloved by his people and idolized by his soldiers.
Connections
In 1859, Wofford married Julia A. (Dwight) Wofford. Their marriage produced six children, three of whom died in infancy. William married Margaret (Langdon) Wofford two years after his first wife, Julia, died in 1878.