John P. McCown

Infobox Military Person
name= John Porter McCown
born= Birth date|1815|8|19
died= January 22 1979
placeofbirth= Sevier County, Tennessee
placeofdeath= Little Rock, Arkansas


caption= John Porter McCown
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America Confederate States of America
serviceyears= 1840–61 (USA)
1861-65 (CSA)
rank= Captain (USA)
Major General (CSA)
commands= Army of the West
unit=
battles=Mexican–American War American Civil War
awards=
laterwork= teacher, farmer

John Porter McCown (August 19, 1815 – January 22, 1879) was a career officer in the United States Army fighting in the Mexican–American War and a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

Early life and career

John Porter McCown was born near the town of Sevierville, located in Sevier County, Tennessee. In September 1835 he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and graduated in July 1840 standing tenth out of 42 cadets. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He was promoted to first lieutenant on September 30, 1843, and served as the 4th's Regimental Quartermaster from March 29, 1847 to January 12, 1849.Eicher, p. 375.]

McCown fought during the Mexican–American War and participated in the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was brevetted to captain on April 18, 1847 for is conduct in that battle. After the war was promoted to captain on January 9, 1851.

Civil War service

McCown chose to follow the Confederate cause and resigned his U.S. Army commission on May 17, 1861. He was appointed a captain in the artillery of the Confederate Army on March 16, and then promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 9. Also in 1861 he was in charge of a Confederate infantry brigade under the command of Gideon J. Pillow.

He was sent to the western theater and appointed a colonel in the Tennessee artillery on May 17. He was promoted to brigadier general on October 12, and he marched his brigade to Columbus, Kentucky and on to the Battle of Belmont on November 7.

McCown was promoted to major general on March 10, 1862, and served during the Battle of Island Number Ten that spring. Following the surrender of the Confederate garrisons after the battle, he commanded the 2nd Dividion of the Army of the West from April until June 20, when he assumed overall command of the Army. On June 27 his command was added to the Second Corps of the Army of Mississippi, and fought at the the Battle of Stones River near the end of 1862.

The Army of Mississippi was renamed the Army of Tennessee in 1863, and McCown's division was made part of Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Corps in that Army. In February 1863 McCown was relieved of his command and court-martialled by Gen. Braxton Bragg, the commanding general of the Army. McCown was tried and found guilty of disobedience of orders on March 16, and sentenced to suspension from duty for a period of six months.

By 1865 he was in North Carolina, and at the end of the war was paroled from Salisbury on May 12.

Postbellum

After the war McCown became a teacher. Later he moved to Arkansas and took up farming. He died in 1879 at Little Rock, and is buried in City Cemetery in Magnolia, Arkansas.

References

* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford Univ. Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* [http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/4OfDRswLCmPxtumTUZUi4TAJgYGehS9furZ6qFzstbv3Tm_IPHZtRXyaMi13w_il-GcZDNbAppgk39yZSjwSGu5hSxhzbxH1jUg/13th%20Story.doc]

Notes