{⋆★⋆} MG Cleburne, Patrick R.

Patrick Ronayne Cleburne

Born: March 17, 1828
Cleburne.jpg


Birthplace: Ovens County Cork Ireland

Father: Dr. Joseph Cleburne 1792 – 1843

Mother: Mary Ann Ronayne 1792 – 1829

Girlfriend: Susan Tarleton 1840 – 1868
(Buried: Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama)​

Career in Europe:

1846 – 1849: Served in the British Army rising to rank of Corporal​

Occupation in United States:

Immigrated to the United States, settling in Helena, Arkansas​
Worked as a Pharmacist in Helena, Arkansas​
Half Owner of The Democratic Star Newspaper
1856: Wounded during a street fight in Helena, Arkansas, Shot in Back​
Attorney in Helena, Arkansas​

Civil War Career:

Member of the Yell Rifles, Arkansas Militia​
1861: Captain of Yell Rifles helped seize the U.S. Arsenal in Little Rock​
1861 – 1862: Colonel of 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment​
1862: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Shiloh​
1862: Wounded in the face during the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Perryville​
1862 – 1864: Commander of Confederate Infantry Division​
1862: Routed the Union Army during the Battle of Stones River​
1862 – 1864: Major General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1863: Participated in the Battle of Chickamauga​
1863: Conducted a night assault during the Battle of Wauhatchie​
1863: Participated in the Battle of Missionary Ridge​
1863: Protected the army of Tennessee, Battle of Ringgold, Georgia​
1864: Suggested to Army commanders to arm and emancipate slaves​
1864: Killed during the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee​

Died:
November 30, 1864

Place of Death: Franklin, Tennessee

Cause of Death: Gun Shot wounds to the abdomen

Age at time of Death: 36 years old

1st Burial: Saint John's Episcopal Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Tennessee

2nd Burial: Confederate Cemetery, Helena, Arkansas
 
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Your a day ahead his birthday is not until tomorrow on Saint Patrick's Day I was going to add some stuff to this one tomorrow but here I will go ahead and post it.

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Thing is, while many say his birthday is the 17th, it seems this is a mistake, that he was born the 16th, and since its so close to St. Patrick's Day (and he is Irish), many people put his birthday as the 17th.
I believe Symonds puts it as the 16th, as does wikipedia.
 
Most biographies I've read have placed Cleburne's birthday as March 16th (or even the 13th). I think people gravitate towards placing his birthday as the 17th because of his Irish heritage, though from my reading he was no Fenian or Irish nationalist, and probably wouldn't care for such things.
Girlfriend: Susan Tarleton 1840 – 1868
I did not know how big the age gap between the two was when I first read about their romance in Symonds' book. To be fair its only 12 years, given that they met attending Hardee's wedding to a woman born the year he graduated West Point. Still, reading about the complicated relationship between Sue and Pat, I can see why she was reluctant to confirm anything with him.
 
An article from the 5 May 1870 edition of Arkansas Gazette describing the process escorting Cleburne's remains through Memphis on their way to Helena AR for his final burial.

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Recognize a few of the pallbears. John W. Dawson and M. Magevney Jr (definitely Michael Magevney Jr.) were the Lt. Colonel and Colonel of the 154th Tennessee. Makes sense that he'd have a large reception in Memphis due to the large amount of Irishmen in the city before the war (many who served in the 2nd Tennessee, later the 5th Confederate Regiment, which fought under CLeburne for most of the war).
 
He deserves a place among the greats for sure. His proposal to arm and free the Slaves only strengthens this view. I was surprised that he got caught flat footed at Pickett's Mill.....not knowing which way the attack was coming from and being slow to react. But this seems to be an exception.
 
Cleburne was somewhat of an oddball in the Confederacy. He was socially awkward, and was uncomfortable when riding a horse. The man was a quick learner. After the bloodbath at shiloh left 1,000 men of his command dead, wounded or missing, he realized the importance of accurate fire and skirmishing tactics, starting to form dedicated sharpshooting units. Due to these efforts, his division was second to none on the defense, as could be seen at Ringgold Gap, Pickett's Mill, and Nashville (though the latter occurred after his death). His lack of proper military education, foreign birth, and lack of political allies meant he was passed over from promotion to corps command, which by mid- to late-1864 he had earned. Then there's the matter of the Dalton Proposal, which is a can of worms I and others have touched on too many times to count and I won't here. Of all the generals in the illfated Army of Tennessee, Cleburne was by and large the best at any level.
 
I've been doing research on a paper regarding Cleburne. I've come across an entry from Edwin L. Drake's "The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History" from 1878, which contains a letter written by Tennessee Representative Arthur St. Clair Colyar to Colonel A. S. Marks (the latter formerly of Bushrod Johnson's Brigade) about a meeting he had with Cleburne in Atlanta in mid-January, involving the discussion of his proposal.

"Colonel A. S. Marks - Cousin Albert -

While in Atlanta, I saw General Cleburne for the first time, and spent some time with him at his room. He spoke in high terms of you. I found him to be apparently, and I suppose really, a very modest man. I was very much surprised to hear him say that he considered slavery at an end. That we ought to put many of the negroes in the service, but that we could not risk them and the consequences without first changing our relations to them. That no halfway measure would do that an entire change of our relations to the slaves, not by military law, but by the action of the States, was necessary. That as soon as this was done , the effect would be upon the North such that they could not keep their armies in the field; and certainly it would insure our recognition at once by the principal powers of Europe. That if we take this step now, we can mould the relations, for all time to come, between the white and colored races; and we can control the negroes, and that they will still be our laborers as much as they now are, and, to all intents and purposes , will be our servants , at less cost than now. His great argument is, that if the Yankees succeed in abolishing slavery, equality and amalgamation will finally take place. General Cleburne says he submitted his views in writing to a number of the officers of the army at a meeting some weeks ago. That the paper was signed and approved by most of the officers of his Division; that many officers at the meeting seemed favorably inclined to his views, and but one man - Major General Walker - took decided ground against him, and a few days afterward wrote him a note (which he showed me), asking a copy of the paper, to be forwarded to the Secretary of War. General Cleburne answered him, saying he would take pleasure in furnishing a copy; had no objection to the Secretary of War knowing his views ; that he did furnish the copy , signing his own name, saying to General Walker that he had not consulted the other gentlemen, and did not feel authorized to give their names, as they signed the paper for the purposes of that meeting. General C. promised to send me a copy of this paper (25 pages).

I admire General Cleburne's boldness and fearless manner in which he comes up to a question which he must know may overwhelm him in ruin; but I cannot agree with him in the necessity for such a move. I have no doubt about the effect on European Powers; but I do not believe the negro could be used to much advantage after he was freed. (But General C. says, writing a man "free" does not make him so , as the history of the Irish laborer shows.) We are fast approaching the crisis in this revolution when we may look for bold moves on the chess-board. No man need be surprised at any thing. I am always hopeful .

Very Truly, A. S. Colyar
Newnan, Ga., Jan. 30, 1864"

I find it interesting how much emphasis it seems Cleburne places on what a post-war Confederacy without slavery would be like, essentially predicting the Jim Crow South. Also find it interesting how Cleburne apparently brings up the plight of the average Irishman within the British imperial rule to how the South should treat the freed slaves.

For citation, see Drake, Edwin L., The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History including a Chronological Summary of Battles and Engagements in the Western Armies of the Confederacy (Nashville, TN: A. D. Haynes, May 1878), pg. 50-52.
 
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