Walter Gwynn

Infobox Military Person
name= Walter Gwynn
lived= February 22, 1802 – February 6, 1882
placeofbirth= Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia)
placeofdeath= Baltimore, Maryland


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America Confederate States of America
serviceyears=1822–32 (USA) 1861–65 (CSA)
rank= Lieutenant (USA) Colonel (CSA) Major General (VA Militia) Brigadier General (VA Provisional Army) Brigadier General (NC Militia)
commands=
battles=American Civil War
awards=
laterwork=Comptroller, State of Florida

Walter Gwynn (February 22, 1802 – February 6, 1882) was a civil engineer and soldier who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War.

Early life

Gwynn was born in Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia), the son of Humphrey Gwynn, a descendant of Colonel Hugo Gwynn, who settled in Virginia before 1640.

United States Military

He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the Class of 1822 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery, later transferring to the 4th U.S. Artillery. In 1827, while still an artillery lieutenant, he helped survey the route for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).

Engineer

He resigned his commission in February 1832. In 1833, he worked as an engineer in the building of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad. He was Superintendent and Chief Engineer of the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina from 1836 to 1840. In 1846, he became president of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company, which was funded by the Virginia Board of Public Works. By the late 1850s, Gwynn had established an international reputation as a railroad engineer and as a founder of the southeastern railroad network. A colleague said that Gwynn. "made for himself a reputation among his fellow engineers that will last for all time." In 1857, he retired from railroad work and moved to South Carolina.

Confederate States Military

At the start of the Civil War, Gwynn was a major in the engineers of the South Carolina Militia. At the request of the governor, he had accepted the commission and was charged with constructing batteries at various strategic points in Charleston Harbor, facing Fort Sumter.

On April 10, 1861, he accepted a commission as major general of the Virginia Militia and was directed by Virginia governor John Letcher to assume command of the defenses around Norfolk and Portsmouth until mid-May. Working with Gwynn at Norfolk was William Mahone, who was the president of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. Working under Gwynn's authority, Mahone (who was still a civilian) helped bluff the Federal troops into abandoning the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth by running a single passenger train into Norfolk with great noise and whistle-blowing, then much more quietly, sending it back west, and then returning the same train again, creating the illusion of large numbers of arriving troops to the Federals listening in Portsmouth across the Elizabeth River (and just barely out of sight). The ruse worked, and not a single Confederate soldier was lost as the Union authorities abandoned the area, and retreated to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads.

Gwynn also served as a brigadier general in the Virginia Provisional Army and then brigadier general in the North Carolina Militia, commanding the Northern Coast Defenses of North Carolina. All of these general-officer assignments were in the spring and summer of 1861.

By August he joined the Confederate States Army as a major of engineers and was promoted to colonel on October 9, 1862. (Fellow railroader Mahone also joined the Confederate Army, eventually achieving the rank of Major General after becoming the so-called Hero of the Battle of the Crater outside Petersburg in 1864).

Gwynn oversaw construction of defensive fortification at Sewell's Point, which was across the mouth of Hampton Roads from Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort. In 1861, he participated in the Battle of Big Bethel during the Blockade of the Chesapeake Bay.

Later life

In 1863, he resigned his commission and was named comptroller of the State of Florida. After the war, Gwynn returned to civil engineering in North Carolina. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

References

* Allardice, Bruce S., "More Generals in Gray", Louisiana State University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-8071-1967-9.
* Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.