Alexander Lawton

Photograph of Alexander Lawton

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

Confederate Brigadier General

Place of Birth:

Beaufort, SC

Date of Birth:

November 4, 1818

Place of Death:

Clifton Springs, NY

Date of Death:

July 2, 1896

Place of Burial:

Savannah, GA

Cemetery Name:

Bonaventure Cemetery

From the Peninsula to Maryland: Lawton's role in the summer of 1862

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1842, Alexander Robert Lawton lived in Savannah, Georgia where he was involved in state politics and railroad administration. Lawton was Colonel of the 1st Georgia when that unit overtook Fort Pulaski in January of 1861, and by mid-April he was a Brigadier General in charge of Georgia's coastal defenses.

In June 1862, Lawton joined "Stonewall" Jackson's command in the Shenandoah Valley. He led Ewell's division during the Battle of Harpers Ferry and the Battle of Antietam, where he was wounded. His wound disabled him until spring of 1863 and he then became the Quartermaster General of the entire Confederate Army.

Following the war, Lawton continued his work in politics and railroads. He ran for the United States Senate in 1880 but lost. Two years later he became the president of the American Bar Association and by 1887 he expanded into international politics when appointed the Minister to Austria-Hungary.