{⋆★⋆} BG Robertson, Felix H.

Felix Huston Robertson

:CSA1stNat:
General Robertson.jpg


Born: March 9, 1839

Birth Place: Washington on the Brazos, Texas

Father: Brigadier General Jerome Bonaparte Robertson 1815 – 1891
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

Mother: Mary Elizabeth Cummins 1816 – 1868
(Buried: Old Independence Cemetery, Independence, Texas)​

Wife: Sarah Davis 1844 – 1889
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas)​

Wife: Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dwyer 1869 – 1950
(Buried: Prairie Lea Cemetery, Brenham, Texas)​

Children:

Julia Robertson Cleveland 1868 – 1951​
(Buried: San Fernando Cemetery No. 3, San Antonio, Texas)​
Felix Davis Robertson 1871 – 1941​
(Buried: Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas)​
Sara H. Robertson Smith 1876 – 1965​
(Buried: Oaklawn Cemetery, North Machester, Indiana)​
Jerome H. B. Robertson 1893 – 1955​
(Buried: Prairie Lea Cemetery, Brenham, Texas)
After War.jpg

Education:

Attended Baylor University​
1857 – 1861: Attended West Point Military Academy​

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Commissioned 2nd Lt. in the Confederate Army Artillery​
1861: Participated in the Shelling of Fort Sumter Charleston, South Carolina​
1861: Staff Officer on the Staff of Brig. General A. H. Gladden​
1862: Captain in the Confederate Army Artillery​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​
1862 – 1863: Participated in the Battle of Stones River, Tennessee​
1862 – 1863: Major on Confederate Army Artillery​
1862 – 1863: Commander of Artillery Reserve for Army of Tennessee​
1863: Participated in the Battle of Chickamuga, Georgia​
1864: Lt. Colonel of Confederate Horse Artillery under Joseph Wheeler​
1864: Participated in the Atlanta, Georgia Campaign​
1864: Temporarily held rank of Brigadier General and Chief of Staff​
1864: Participated in the First Battle of Saltville, Virginia​
1864: Wounded in the elbow during Battle of Buck Head Creek, Georgia​
1865: Confederate States Senate rejected promotion to Brigadier General​
1865: Captured in Macon, Georgia on April 20th

Occupation after War:

Attorney in Waco, Texas​
Real Estate Speculator in Texas​
Railroad Investor in Texas​
1902: Unsuccessful Candidate for Mayor of Waco, Texas​
1911 – 1928: Commander of Waco United Confederate Veterans​
1913: Texas Representative for Battle of Gettysburg Commission​

Died: April 20, 1928

Place of Death: Waco, Texas

Age at time of Death: 89 years old

Cause of Death: Senility & Natural Causes

Burial Place: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas
 
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I really don't see how the newspaper articles can call him the youngest general on either side. The Union's General Galusha Pennypacker had him beat by over 4 years.
You know how the media both then and now has always been - quick to grab onto a catchy phrase, slow to actually do any research to back it up. Perhaps Pennypacker was already "safely dead" therefore already forgotten, making Robertson the likely candidate as "youngest general", which after all he must've been, since he was the last to die! (I wonder if even that statement's the truth?)
 
You know how the media both then and now has always been - quick to grab onto a catchy phrase, slow to actually do any research to back it up. Perhaps Pennypacker was already "safely dead" therefore already forgotten, making Robertson the likely candidate as "youngest general", which after all he must've been, since he was the last to die! (I wonder if even that statement's the truth?)
Well your first sentence is definitely the truth.
We have the benefit of having many legitimate resources at our fingertips, unlike them.
However I’m sure many reporters and editors just jumped the gun to get their story out there before everyone else, as well as substandard research.
 
After Saltville, Robertson was the subject of a manhunt by the Confederate States Army in regard to his conduct at the Battle/Massacre. I believe his highest listed rank was major, as he was never confirmed at the rank of general. When General Robert E. Lee learned of Robertson's conduct, he communicated to General Breckinridge, Commander of the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia, his dismay "that a general officer should have been guilty of the crime you mention" and instructed Breckinridge to prefer charges against him and bring him to trial. It was a good thing the war ended before he was found by Confederate authorities.
 
Texas had numerous generals but I think he was the only one born there. I may be wrong on this,I don't have any notes with me as of this writing.
After Saltville, Robertson was the subject of a manhunt by the Confederate States Army in regard to his conduct at the Battle/Massacre. I believe his highest listed rank was major, as he was never confirmed at the rank of general. When General Robert E. Lee learned of Robertson's conduct, he communicated to General Breckinridge, Commander of the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia, his dismay "that a general officer should have been guilty of the crime you mention" and instructed Breckinridge to prefer charges against him and bring him to trial. It was a good thing the war ended before he was found by Confederate authorities.
I believe I've read Polloco's statement as a fact, probably in Ezra Warner's classic Generals In Gray, which despite any possible controversy regarding his alleged behavior or actions does in fact include him among the 425 general officers of the Confederacy.
 
Robertson's actions at Saltsville were deplorable, one of the many instances where Confederate soldier would murder and abuse black POWs on the site of battle. It wasn't entirely a case of "the officers couldn't control their men", as Robertson was recorded encouraging the slaughter of the black soldiers. As far as I know there were never any monuments to this man...unless I am mistaken.
 
Sirs, an interesting article...

Was There a Massacre in Saltville in 1864?
By David E. Brown

Most of the details concerning the prelude to the first Battle of Saltville and the bloody battle itself, which occurred on October 2, 1864, are not disputed by Civil War scholars. However, two recent historical works that chronicle this chapter of Civil War history provide two sharply different interpretations of what occurred after the battle. The two conflicting accounts of history are The Saltville Massacre by Thomas D. Mays, published in 1995 by Ryan Place Publishers, and "The Battle of Saltville: Massacre or Myth?" by William Marvel, which appeared in the August 1991 issue of Blue and Gray Magazine / (Volume VIII, Number 6).


Full article can be read here - https://web.archive.org/web/20100430193859/http://home.comcast.net/~5thuscc/massacr.htm

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
On a recent (last Monday) profile of Col. Samuel Granville Smith there is mention of ''his Uncle Felix Robertson" in an article submitted by a member named antonio. Could this uncle Felix be the same Felix Robertson as the general we are profiling?
 
On a recent (last Monday) profile of Col. Samuel Granville Smith there is mention of ''his Uncle Felix Robertson" in an article submitted by a member named antonio. Could this uncle Felix be the same Felix Robertson as the general we are profiling?
They may have been cousins. Smith's mother was an "Elizabeth Anderson Robertson" (1813-1891), who may have been a sister or distant relative of Jerome Bonaparte Robertson, Felix's father. Given their age (Smith was older than Felix by almost 4 years), I doubt they're uncles, but they may have been cousins.
 
Robertson's actions at Saltsville were deplorable, one of the many instances where Confederate soldier would murder and abuse black POWs on the site of battle. It wasn't entirely a case of "the officers couldn't control their men", as Robertson was recorded encouraging the slaughter of the black soldiers. As far as I know there were never any monuments to this man...unless I am mistaken.
Luke,
Not to discount the event, if true, but it should not be forgotten that there were similar atrocities in reverse.
 
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