Seth Barton
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Seth Maxwell Barton (September 8, 1829 – April 11, 1900) was a U.S. Army officer and, then, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He later became noted as a chemist.
Barton was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Thomas Bowerbank Barton. At the age of 15, he was accepted into the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1849, twenty-eighth in his class of forty-three. Following his graduation, Barton served in various frontier posts in New Mexico Territory and Texas, where he participated in campaigns against the Commanches in 1857. By 1861, Barton had become a captain in the Regular Army.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, he resigned his commission and joined the 3rd Arkansas Infantry as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army. Serving under Gen. Robert E. Lee, Barton saw action at the battles of Cheat Mountain and Greenbrier River, and later with Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as chief engineer during the Valley Campaign in 1862.
Promoted to brigadier general in March 1862, Barton was assigned to Gen. E. Kirby Smith in the Department of East Tennessee, where for a short time during the Cumberland Gap Campaign, Barton led the 4th Brigade, consisting of Anderson's Virginia battery as well as Alabama and Georgia regiments. Later transferred with Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson's division to Vicksburg, Mississippi, Barton was captured following the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.
Released following a prisoner exchange, Barton was assigned command of the Virginia brigade once led by Lewis Armistead, serving under Maj. Gen. George Pickett. Stationed at Kinston, North Carolina, for the remainder of the year, Barton was commanding one of the forward columns marching on New Bern, in February 1864, when he was censured after Pickett had issued a formal complaint against him for lack of cooperation. He was transferred to Gen. Robert Ransom's command at Drewry's Bluff. However, Barton was again relieved of command following the Battle of Drewry's Bluff when Ransom issued a similar charge, despite accounts of Barton's gallantry during the battle as well as his unit being the first to reach the Union guns. Barton's brigade was assigned to Col. Birkett D. Fry.
Barton was later returned to command due to the intervention of other officers on his behalf and assigned to a brigade defending Richmond, Virginia, under Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. He remained at Chaffin's Farm until the eventual evacuation of Richmond and joined the retreating forces under Maj. Gen. Custis Lee. Barton had begun preparing to reinforce Robert E. Lee's army following the Battle of Sayler's Creek when it was announced Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House. Barton was captured on April 6, 1865. Imprisoned for three months at Fort Warren in Boston, Massachusetts, he was released after signing a loyalty oath to the Union.
After the war, Barton returned to Fredericksburg, where he began practicing chemistry, eventually becoming one of the most prominent chemists in the United States. In 1900, while visiting his son in Washington D.C., he died suddenly. He was buried in the City Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
[edit] References
- Linedecker, Clifford L., ed. Civil War A-Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict. New York: Ballentine Books, 2002. ISBN 0-89141-878-4
