{⋆★⋆} BG Gary, Martin W.

Martin Witherspoon Gary

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Born: March 25, 1831

Birth Place: Cokesbury, South Carolina

Father: Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary 1802 – 1852
(Buried: Tabernacle Cemetery, Cokesbury, South Carolina)​

Mother: Mary Ann Porter 1808 – 1881
(Buried: Tabernacle Cemetery, Cokesbury, South Carolina)​

Wife: Never Married

Education:

1850 – 1852: Attended South Carolina College (withdrew)​
1854: Graduated from Harvard University​

Occupation before War:

1855 – 1861: Attorney in Edgefield, South Carolina​
1860 – 1861: South Carolina State Representative​

Civil War Career:

1861: Captain of Infantry in the Hampton South Carolina Legion​
1861: Participated in the First Battle of Bull Run​
1862: Lt. Colonel of Hampton South Carolina Legion​
1862 – 1864: Colonel of Hampton South Carolina Legion​
1863 – 1864: Served with the Army of Tennessee​
1864 – 1865: Served with the Army of Northern Virginia​
1864 – 1865: Brigadier General of Confederate Cavalry
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1865: Refused to Surrender with General Robert E. Lee​
1865: Presidential Escort from Greensboro, North Carolina to Cokesbury, South Carolina​

Occupation after War:

Attorney in Edgefield, South Carolina​
Outspoken Critic of the Radical Reconstruction and Republican Party​
1878 – 1881: South Carolina State Senator​

Died: April 9, 1881

Place of Death: Edgefield, South Carolina

Cause of Death: Uremia

Age at time of Death: 52 years old

Burial Place: Tabernacle Cemetery, Cokesbury, South Carolina

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The Bald Eagle of Edgefield by Marion F. Sturkey

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Martin Witherspoon Gary from rural Edgefield, South Carolina, would become a pivotal player on the national stage. During the American Civil War he rose from captain to major general and commanded all Confederate cavalry forces north of Richmond. After the war Gary served in his state senate. Endowed with a brilliant incisive mind and a charismatic persona, he led the successful struggle to end the despised Reconstruction Era in the southern United States. He evolved into the most volatile leader in the South. Profane and controversial, Gary electrified audiences with mesmerizing oratory. He fought for accountability in government and vilified all who disagreed with him. His devotees viewed him as an intellectual giant; a fiscal reformer; a champion for the common man, the farmer, the laborer, the merchant, and the taxpayer. Exclusive of Gary's insistence on Caucasian political rule, he became the Donald Trump of the Nineteenth Century. There was no middle ground. People either loved him, or they hated him. He died in 1881 at only 50 years of age. Yet, his fiery impact on United States government would last until the civil rights movement of the 1960s.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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