Former Confederates who sent sons

[gentlemanrob]

I have often wondered how many former Confederate Generals sent their sons to West Point Military Academy or a military academy after the Civil War? I would think their would be many but I am not 100% sure. Does anyone have any idea?

 

[NFB22]

Good question. I know some of the higher profile Confederate officers that had sons that attended such as Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. and one or two of Hood's sons but don't know a total number.

 

[RedRover]

Joseph Wheeler, Jr., son of Gen. Joe Wheeler who commanded the cavalry of the Army of Tennessee, etc., graduated West Point in 1895.

Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., son of Gen. S.B. Buckner, who surrendered Ft. Donelson to Grant, and commanded a corps under Bragg at Chickamauga, etc., graduated with the West Point class of 1908. He was killed in action at the battle of Okinawa in 1945, and later posthumously awarded a fourth star by Congress.

Here's the supposed last photo of Gen. Buckner (at right), taken just before he was killed by a fragment from a shell:

Besides generals' sons, there were many graduates who were sons of Confederate Veterans. General Mason Matthews Patrick, who commanded the US Army air service during World War I, and was instrumental in developing the US Army Air Corps in the '20s, was the son of a Confederate army surgeon.

Admiral Hilary P. Jones, who after WWI was commander of the US Fleet, was an 1884 Naval Academy graduate, and son of the commander of the artillery of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg...

Admiral Husband Kimmell, who commanded at Pearl Harbor during the attack in December, 1941, was a Naval Academy graduate, and son of a Confederate Army major.

 

[NFB22]

You could also consider some famous grandsons of Confederate officers. I would think the most famous ones would be George Patton and Nathan Bedford Forrest III (great-grandson).

 

[NFB22]

Colonel Duncan Norbert Hood, son of Lt. General John Bell Hood, USMA Class of 1896

Marine Corps Commandant Major General John A Lejeune, son of Captain Ovide Lejeune, USNA Class of 1888

Colonel Archibald Gracie IV, son of Brig. General Archibald Gracie Jr, USMA Class of 1881 (did not graduate). Was later a passenger on the RMS Titanic.

 

[Desert Kid]

Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, Patron Saint of the USMC. Grandson of a couple Confederate veterans.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, a German-Texan whose grandfather was a Confederate veteran.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Such an enjoyable thread!

--BBF