{⋆★⋆} MG Kershaw, Joseph B.

Joseph Brevard Kershaw

Major General Joseph B. Kershaw.jpg

:CSA1stNat:

Born:
January 5, 1822

Birthplace: Camden, South Carolina

Father: U.S. Congressman John Kershaw 1765 – 1829
(Buried: Kershaw Family Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​

Mother: Harriett DuBose 1791 – 1845
(Buried: Kershaw Family Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​

Wife: Lucretia Douglas 1825 – 1902
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden ,South Carolina)​

Children:

Rev. John Kershaw 1847 – 1921​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Mary Martin Kershaw Shannon 1848 – 1934​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Harriet DuBose Kershaw Lang 1850 – 1930​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Charlotte Douglas Kershaw 1851 – 1923​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
James Douglas Kershaw 1852 – 1854​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Lucretia Douglas Kershaw 1859 – 1859​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Josephine Serre Kershaw deLoach 1867 – 1938​
(Buried: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina)​
Lynch Deas Kershaw 1868 –​

Education:
Attended School in Camden & Cokesbury, South Carolina​

Occupation before War:
1843 – 1861: Attorney in Camden, South Carolina​
Participated in the Mexican War saw little action due to sickness​
1852 – 1856: South Carolina State Senator​
1859 – 1861: Colonel in the South Carolina State Militia​
1861: Delegate to South Carolina State Secession Convention​

Civil War Career:
1861 – 1862: Colonel of 2nd South Carolina Infantry​
1861: Participated in the First Battle of Bull Run​
1862 – 1864: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Malvern Hill​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Savages Station​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Sharpsburg​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg​
1863: Participated in the Battles of Chancellorsville & Gettysburg​
1863: Participated in the Battle of Chickamuga, Tennessee​
1863: Participated in the Battle of Knoxville, Tennessee​
1864: Participated in the Wilderness Campaign​
1864: Participated in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House​
1864 – 1865: Major General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1864: Participated in the Battle of North Anna, Virginia​
1864: Participated in the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia​
1864: Participated in the Petersburg, Virginia Campaign​
1865: Captured during the Battle of Saylor's Creek, Virginia​
1865: Prisoner of War until August at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor​
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Occupation after War:

Attorney in Camden, South Carolina​
1865 – 1866: South Carolina State Senator​
Member of the Union Reform Party​
Wrote resolutions recognizing the Reconstruction Acts​
1874: Unsuccessful Candidate for United States Representative​
1877 – 1893: Judge of 5th South Carolina Circuit Court​
1893 – 1894: United States Postmaster, Camden, South Carolina​

Died:
April 13, 1894

Place of Death: Camden, South Carolina

Cause of Death: Not Known

Age at time of Death: 72 years old

Burial Place: Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina
 
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Pvt. David Wigfall Brailsford (I/2nd SC) memorialized Maj Gen Joseph Brevard Kershaw as follows:

...It was pathetic to see the tender solicitude he had for the comfort and welfare of his men and their lives were precious to him -- never needlessly exposed or sacrificed -- and it was this very knowledge of how he cared for them that made the troops rush into the very jaws of death at his command. He never isolated himself from his soldiers, but met and treated them as his fellow citizens of the South. On the weary march when the column was halted for an hour's rest he would dismount from his horse and sit surrounded by groups of his devoted men. History has never done him justice, but Lee and Jackson trusted him and his old soldiers followed and loved him unto death. ~ D. W. Brailsford, Palmetto Guard, 2nd Regiment​
 
Here's another tribute to General Kershaw, written by Private William T Shumate of Company B, 2nd South Carolina:

...Just here I will say that the gallant and kind-hearted Kershaw was on foot in the thickest of the fray [Chickamauga.] It seemed that he bore a charmed life and was not born to be killed in battle. He was always on foot in all the engagements in which his brigade participated, and I believe was never wounded. His kindness was proverbial, he sympathized with his soldiers in their hardships and dangers, and had a gentle and pleasant word for all. The writer will never forget, when broken down and barefooted, on a long march in the Valley of Virginia, how Kershaw rode up and said in his genial way, "It's a very hard march; do the best you can; try and keep as near the command as possible." ~ William T Shumate, Butler Guards, 2nd South Carolina [Yorkville Enquirer. (Yorkville, SC), April 12, 1883, page 1.]​
 
Joseph Kershaw had extensive combat experience leading his South Carolina Brigade. He was a capable and competent Brigade (and later Division) commander. He was one of the better section leaders in the Army of Northern Virginia.
 
Kershaw had a solid reputation as an effective brigade and later division commander. He first fought as Colonel of the 2nd South Carolina at First Manassas, before earning his brigadier star and fighting throughout the Peninsula Campaign, the Maryland Campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, briefly being defacto division commander at Chickamauga, fighting more around Chattanooga and Knoxville before McLaws was booted. As senior brigadier, he led the division through the Overland Campaign, most notably at the Wilderness (where he was present for Longstreet's wounding) and Cold Harbor (where he was heavily involved with Robert Hoke's Division in the struggle for New and Old Cold Harbor May 31st-June 1st). After this, he officially recieved his Major General star, becoming permanent commander of the division.
Kershaw would serve in the Petersburg Campaign, until in August Lee sends his division to reinforce Jubal Early in the Shenandoah, resulting in the battle of Guard Hill (where a Confederate infantry assault is stopped dead in its tracks by Union cavalry). However, early in September, Lee decided to pull Kershaw back to Petersburg, which weakened Early and opened him up to an offensive by Sheridan, culminating in the disasters at Opequon and Fisher's Hill. Soon after, Kershaw's Division returned to the Valley, where they took part in the Battle of Cedar Creek, routing Thoburn's Division from their camp. However, the Confederate momentum is lost, and a counterattack by Sheridan late in the day reverses the gains.
Soon after, Kershaw's Division returned to the trenches, particularly around Richmond. Thus, when the Petersburg Line collapsed following the Five Forks disaster, they were part of Richard Ewell's Corps. At Sayler's Creek, the division was overwhelmed and Kershaw was captured. This was the end of the war for him.
 
Kershaw had a solid reputation as an effective brigade and later division commander. He first fought as Colonel of the 2nd South Carolina at First Manassas, before earning his brigadier star and fighting throughout the Peninsula Campaign, the Maryland Campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, briefly being defacto division commander at Chickamauga, fighting more around Chattanooga and Knoxville before McLaws was booted. As senior brigadier, he led the division through the Overland Campaign, most notably at the Wilderness (where he was present for Longstreet's wounding) and Cold Harbor (where he was heavily involved with Robert Hoke's Division in the struggle for New and Old Cold Harbor May 31st-June 1st). After this, he officially recieved his Major General star, becoming permanent commander of the division.
Kershaw would serve in the Petersburg Campaign, until in August Lee sends his division to reinforce Jubal Early in the Shenandoah, resulting in the battle of Guard Hill (where a Confederate infantry assault is stopped dead in its tracks by Union cavalry). However, early in September, Lee decided to pull Kershaw back to Petersburg, which weakened Early and opened him up to an offensive by Sheridan, culminating in the disasters at Opequon and Fisher's Hill. Soon after, Kershaw's Division returned to the Valley, where they took part in the Battle of Cedar Creek, routing Thoburn's Division from their camp. However, the Confederate momentum is lost, and a counterattack by Sheridan late in the day reverses the gains.
Soon after, Kershaw's Division returned to the trenches, particularly around Richmond. Thus, when the Petersburg Line collapsed following the Five Forks disaster, they were part of Richard Ewell's Corps. At Sayler's Creek, the division was overwhelmed and Kershaw was captured. This was the end of the war for him.

That's a comprehensive wartime summary for him. Thanks.

In my view, that's an appropriate description of him as a commander. He was solid.
 
Gen. Beauregard referred to Kershaw as "that militia idiot".This was after 1st. Manassas where Kershaw did not file a report with Beauregard but wrote a self promoting article for a South Carolina newspaper instead.
 
At Sayler's Creek, the division was overwhelmed and Kershaw was captured. This was the end of the war for him.
The war wasn't entirely over for Joseph B. Kershaw until August 1865. He was taken prisoner at Sailor's Creek on April 6, 1865, along with what was left of his division. He was received by the Provost Marshal General of the Army of the Potomac April 12, 1865 and forwarded to Washington DC. From there, he was sent to Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts where he was received April 15, 1865.

He was imprisoned at Fort Warren from April 15, 1865 until his release, which was recorded as July 24, 1865. He was among a group of seventeen high-ranking officers finally released on that date. The only prisoners remaining at Fort Warren after July 24th were Vice President Alex Stephens and Confederate Post Master General John H. Reagan. Kershaw arrived in Charleston, SC on August 8, 1865; traveled on to Columbia, SC; and finally to his home at Camden.
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The Daily Phoenix. (Columbia, SC), August 12, 1865, page 2.
 
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