Phillip Roddey

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Phillip Dale Roddey
April 2, 1826 - July 20, 1897
Place of birth	Moulton, Alabama
Place of death	London, England
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	Battle of Selma
Other work	Commission merchant

Phillip Dale Roddey (April 2, 1826 – July 20, 1897) was a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Roddey was born to Sarah Roddey in Moulton, Alabama on April 2, 1826. Not much is known about the background of his family. Receiving little in the way of a formal education, Roddey was a tailor before he was appointed as the sheriff of Lawrence County from 1846 to 1849. His marriage with Margaret A. McGaughey produced two sons and, eventually, a daughter-in-law.

When the Civil War began, Roddey formed a cavalry unit, the 4th Alabama Cavalry, that volunteered for the Confederate States Army. In 1862, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and was sent to the very unit he had created, the 4th Alabama Cavalry. His regiment fought under the command of Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joseph Wheeler in Tennessee and Alabama.

Roddey was named the commander of the District of Northern Alabama in 1863. Upon his subsequent promotion to brigadier general, he took command of a cavalry division and led it through the Atlanta Campaign. As the war began to wind down, Roddey fought and lost at the Battle of Selma, a last, futile effort to repel the rapidly advancing Union Army.

Once the war was over, Roddey moved to New York City and became a commission merchant. On July 20, 1897, while on a business trip to London, England, Roddey died.

[edit] References

• Wakelyn, Jon L. (1977). in Frank E. Vandiver: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Inc.. ISBN 0-8371-6124-X.